The Dimensional Whirlpool
by The Red Rebellion
Summary: Team 7 had thought there would be no more troubles after they left the Land of Waves, but an old scroll awarded to them by Tazuna held more dangers than they would have ever guessed. Finding themselves in an unknown world with no clue how to get back, their only chance to get back home is to use the technique again... changing crossovers. Current category is the current crossover.
1. W1, C1: Interdimensional Travel

_Title: _The Dimensional Whirlpool

_Synopsis: _Team 7 had thought there wouldn't be any more troubles after they left the Land of Waves, but a Sealing Scroll awarded to them by Tazuna before their departure held more dangers than they would have ever guessed. Now they find themselves in an unknown world with no idea how to get back, and the only chance to end up back home is to use the technique again...

_Words:_ 4508

_Series:_ Naruto, Fallout

_Chapter Title: _Interdimensional Travel

_To New Readers: The story periodically changes from one major crossover to another, and if you're reading based on the crossover listed as the main categories, please note that the listed ones are in relation to the **current **crossover taking place in the story. Initially, I had this story in the main Naruto category, but I've since changed it(along with the title and description) to be part of the crossover section, since it only makes sense to use the crossover system if it's there._

* * *

"_I've got spuuurrss that jingle, jangle, jingle!_"

_"Jingle, Jangle!"_

His whole body hurt. Every beat of his heart was pumping a cold fire through his veins, a searing burn coursing throughout every inch his body.

"_As I go ridin' merrily along!_"

_"Jingle, Jangle!"_

The strange song echoing in his ears didn't help the pain – or his mood – any. His head _pound__ed_ from every single beat of the obnoxiously noisy tune. It felt like he had been hanging upside down a little too long, and all the blood had pooled inside of his head. Some of the pain, disorientation, and stuffed head likely stemmed from the mild case of chakra exhaustion he seemed to be suffering from.

"_And they sing, 'Oh, ain't you glad you're single'!_"

_ "Jingle, Jangle!"_

Just what in the world was that song, anyways? It wasn't making much sense to him, other than causing him excruciating pain every other beat. Cracking open his eye, one Kakashi Hatake stared up at the pale blue sky above him...

Odd. The sky seemed far paler than normal, and there was an unpleasant looking brown smog that made the sky look as if someone had regurgitated upon it. At least, that was the most apt description of it Kakashi could think of in the haze of his own mind. Normally, he would have had a better description, but alas his head was pounding too much to form any coherent thought.

"_And that song ain't so very far from wrong!_"

_"Jingle, Jangle!"_

Kakashi turned his head in the direction of the song, pausing upon sighting the source of the sound. It was a large metal ball of sorts that almost looked like an eyeball that was _floating_ roughly a meter or so off the ground. If not for his years of experience in the oddities of war, life, and death... Kakashi would have thought he were dreaming, or that it was some sort of illusion or hallucination. While not a master of illusions by any means, he knew enough about them, and about the workings of his own body, to recognize the tell-tale signs of when he was under an illusion. No experienced ninja would be unable to tell that much; dispelling it was another story entirely. The true problem of genjutsu was learning how to counteract one _when in the heat of battle_. After all, the strongest genjutsu were always the ones that kept the mind from focusing enough to dispel them.

"_Oh, Lillie Belle! __**Oh, Lillie Belle**__! Oh, Lillie Belle! __**Oh, Lillie Belle**__! Though I __may __have done some foolin', this is why I never fell!_"

The metal eyeball wasn't moving too much, just hovering some ten meters away. Kakashi wondered just what it was doing, only to freeze up when his eye noticed that the eyeball was not the only thing around. Indeed, Kakashi could see at least three tall brown creatures _past_ the metal eyeball. Looking all around him, Kakashi found there were six more of them standing about. They were all pale brown in color, ranged from two to three feet tall, and were incredibly well built, with muscles five times the size of his own. While not all of them had horns, they all had half meter long claws, some ten-twenty centimeter long teeth, and glowing, pale green eyes.

Kakashi had never seen a creature quite like them in all his years. They were certainly intimidating, and he could tell they were eyeballing him as food. Pushing himself up slowly, Kakashi examined his surrounding. It was a rocky, desert wasteland, with what appeared to be hill country in the distance. That alone didn't match up with any place he knew. It was closest to the Land of Wind, but the grassy hill country in the distance put that thought out of his mind. Not five feet away from him was his team. Naruto was closest, the young blond boy sleeping noisily on his back, his hands and legs spread out him in a haphazard way. A great deal of irritation for the boy entered Kakashi's mind all of a sudden, but he pushed it aside. Literally on top of Naruto was Sakura, who looked quite peaceful lying nearly face down in the sand and dirt. Past the two was Sasuke, the still bandaged boy slightly curled up on his side. All three of them were fast asleep, Kakashi could tell that much.

"_I've got spuuurrss that jingle, jangle, jingle!_"

_"Jingle, Jangle!"_

Kakashi really wanted the blasted thing to shut up. It wasn't doing anything for him as far as helping him get out of this situation. In fact, the damned thing was probably what attracted these strange creatures in the _first_ place. "Okay..." Kakashi assessed the situation carefully. He was not at his full capabilities, feeling a great deal of fatigue and disorientation. His three genin were fast asleep, with no signs of waking unless forcibly done so. A small metal eyeball was hovering around, being of no help to the situation, _or_ for his headache. There were nine creatures that looked like they could tear him and his genin apart _if_ he let them, and they showed no signs of backing off.

Wonderful. Kakashi was officially pissed off. With the situation fully assessed, he considered his options. The beasts seemed to be creatures that traveled and hunted in packs. Judging by how they eyeballed him, they were no doubt carnivorous, and no doubt very aggressive if the situation called for it. Likely the only reason they had yet to feast upon their flesh was due to them being alive.

Rather, they didn't feast upon their flesh because _he_ was alive. Animals and beasts knew an experienced ninja when they looked at one, even when they were asleep. Their instincts knew not to mess with a sleeping ninja, because it would spell certain death. That was good. It meant they were _smart _predators, and not fueled purely by their hunger or bloodlust.

Taking a deep breath, Kakashi flared his killing intent a smidgen. The beasts shrunk back a few steps, showing Kakashi that they were at least _aware_ of the pecking order. However, they still had strength in numbers, and showed no signs of simply running away without some show of being outclassed.

That gave Kakashi an idea. Slowly and carefully walking over to Naruto and Sakura, Kakashi gently woke them up. "Naruto, Sakura... wake up."

"Nn..." Sakura lifted her head, blinking owlishly. Frowning, she spat some sand and dirt out of her mouth in distaste. Rubbing at her dry eyes, she seemed to recognize Kakashi through her bleary vision. "Kakashi-sensei...?" she slurred, only to notice something stirring under her. Immediately, she jolted wide awake, sitting upright and about to yell at Naruto from lying under her – albeit unintentionally – only to have Kakashi clamp a hand over her mouth.

"Shhh..." he said quietly, nodding his head to the strange creatures, who were slowly repositioning themselves around the four, aware that the group was awakening. "You don't want to provoke them, do you?" The blood in Sakura's face drained completely, her eyes widening in shock and fear at the strange creatures. Turning to the blond still on the ground, Kakashi sighed. "Naruto. Wake up."

"Nnghhh..." Naruto rolled over, his hand reaching out wildly, patting at dirt and rock. "Stupid alarm... I don't... want... radio."

"_Oh, I've got spuuurrs that jingle, jangle, jingle._"

_"Jingle, Jangle!"_

Kakashi shut his eye, shaking his head. "Naruto, it's not the radio. Get up."

That brought Naruto to the real world quickly enough. Sitting up and rubbing at his eyes, Naruto let out a yawn before asking, "Kakashi-sensei? That you?"

"Yes, Naruto, it's me." Naruto frowned up at Kakashi, trying to blink sleepiness from his eyes. "And I need a small favor from you that only you can do." That instantly woke Naruto up, the boy grinning brightly.

"Sure, sure! Anything you need!" Naruto happily said, standing up in a flash. That caused some of the creatures around them to get agitated, two of them leaning down, ready to pounce. It didn't help that Sakura let out a terrified scream – one that awoke Sasuke with a start – but a quick flare of Kakashi's killing intent controlled the creatures long enough for Sasuke to snap to a hasty stand and Naruto to realize they were surrounded by very deadly looking creatures. "U-uh, Kakashi-sensei...!"

"Naruto, I need you to make as many shadow clones as you possibly can. Quickly, please!" Kakashi had a hand in his kunai pouch, noticing that one of the creatures was getting awfully close.

"R-right!" Naruto formed the Clone Seal, and seconds later the surrounding area was covered with smoke. Roughly seven dozen copies of Naruto appeared in the clearing, kunai in hand, all ready to fight. The sudden appearance of so many new Narutos startled and confused the creatures. It was apparent they didn't know whether to stay and fight, or turn and run. The decision was made when one of the creatures lunged at three of the Naruto clones, its maw held wide open, forcing the trio to hastily dodge the beast and retaliate with seven of the other clones. Dozens of kunai and shuriken riddled the beast, and after ten seconds of just wailing on it, the creature let out a groan, falling to the ground.

The sudden death of one of their pack members flipped a switch in the creatures that had been off. Their previous hesitance forgotten, the creatures all rushed the Narutos en masse, letting out loud bellows as they did. The unison cry of seven dozen "Shiiit!" echoed throughout the desert.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed, both scared _and_ angry at Naruto for provoking the creatures into attacking.

"Sakura, Sasuke – stick together!" Kakashi barked out, drawing a kunai from his pouch and shifting into stance. "Naruto, if you can, summon some more clones – and, the _real_ you should stick close to Sakura and Sasuke!"

"Got it!" Naruto yelled, forming another Clone seal, summoning a couple dozen more clones before sliding up alongside Sakura and Sasuke. "What the heck _are_ these things?!"

"I'm not sure, but they certainly seem aggressive." Kakashi drawled, his lone eye snapping from creature to creature, making sure none of them were getting too close. "It seems that a rookie genin is strong enough to take care of them, at-" Kakashi forcibly cut himself off when a particularly large variant of the creatures barreled through two dozen of the clones towards the group of genin with no signs of stopping. This one was much different than the rest, having several much larger horns, a slightly leaner build – if larger in size than the rest – and darker skin. It was also apparently much more dangerous than the rest.

Cursing under his breath, Kakashi moved to intercept, forming a half-powered Chidori in his right hand and plunging it into the creatures chest. This did not seem to deter the beast nearly as much as Kakashi had hoped, as it let out a roar right in his face. Kakashi was thankful for his mask, as the smell it had in its mouth was very, _very _strong and very pungent. "Kakashi-sensei, look out!" Sakura yelled, though Kakashi was already on it. With a quick leap backwards, the creature swiped at nothing but empty air. Sliding to a stop, Kakashi wrung his hand of the blood, eyes never once leaving the beast. The beast didn't even seem sluggish after taking a direct it like that to the sternum. It seemed he'd have to up the ante.

Forming a full-blown Chidori, and flicking up his Forehead Protector with his off-hand, Kakashi watched the beast closely. It seemed to be aware that the audible and glowing chakra in Kakashi's hand was not good news for it. With speed the creature couldn't keep up with, Kakashi plunged the Chidori right into the throat of the beast. It let out a strangled, gargled cry, reaching its arms out towards Kakashi for a brief moment in a vain attempt to grab him, before it crumpled to the ground; dead.

"Cooool!" Naruto breathed, only to let out a surprised yelp when the remaining four creatures became outright frenzied upon what Kakashi assumed to be the Alpha of the pack fell. While this seemed to have toughened them up considerably, Naruto's clones had already made a dent in them. Their lack of coordination led them to fall quickly.

When the dust settled, and all of the beasts were dead, Naruto dispelled his clones. "Man, wasn't expecting that when I first woke up! What the heck were those things?"

"I don't know." Kakashi admitted, wringing his wrist to rid his hand of blood. "I've never seen anything like them."

Naruto nodded, collapsing – exhausted – onto the ground. "Um... Kakashi-sensei...?" Sakura started, Kakashi turning his head to her. "Er... _where _are we? I mean... shouldn't we still in the Land of Waves?"

"We _should_ still be in the Land of Waves," Kakashi agreed, "but it seems we've somehow ended up somewhere else. I'm not familiar with where we are. The closest approximate I have is the Land of Wind, but as far as I know, there aren't many hills or trees of this type there. It also looks nothing like where the woodlands of the Land of Fire taper into the desert of the Land of Wind."

"So... we don't know where we are?" Sakura asked, distraught. Kakashi nodded solemnly, something that caused Sasuke to growl under his breath.

"This is all your fault, dumbass." Sasuke growled to Naruto. Kakashi's brow rose in questioning, but Sasuke didn't notice as he continued to glare at Naruto. "If you hadn't actually tried to learn that damn jutsu the old man gave you, we wouldn't be _in_ this mess!" Upon those words, the memories all came flooding back to Kakashi in an instant.

_"Ne, Kakashi-sensei... what do you think this jutsu is?" Nartuo asked as he examined the reward scroll Tazuna had given them as a bonus for driving off Gato and his men. Apparently it was an old Ninja scroll that was passed down from his grandfather when the Land of Waves was once under the jurisdiction of the Land of Whirlpools. Tazuna claimed he hadn't a clue as to __**what**__ it did, but figured that proper ninja would get more out of it than he ever would._

_ "I'm not entirely sure, Naruto." Kakashi said, as patiently as possible. He didn't want the boy to dive head-first into learning a potentially dangerous technique without some forewarning. "From the looks of it, it's a __**Fūinjutsu**__, rather than an actual Ninjutsu."_

_ "**Fūinjutsu**?" Naruto parroted, gawking at the scroll in his hands._

_ "Yes, Sealing Techniques are another technique many ninja learn. At their most basic forms, they are capable of sealing one thing into another thing, such as several canteens of water into a paper scroll. They can also seal much bigger things into much smaller things." Kakashi explained, and Naruto's hand immediately landed on his stomach, rubbing the spot where the Seal harboring the Kyuubi laid._

_ "Oh." Naruto muttered, __staring at the scroll with a frown__. "Is that __**all**__ Sealing Techniques are good for?"_

_ "Not at all. Sealing Techniques are far and away the most 'unknown' of all techniques. The amount of applications for them are limited only by the user's desires. For example, the Fourth Hokage's signature 'Flying Thunder God' Technique was predominantly a Sealing Technique, and it was regarded as one of the strongest techniques ever conceived." Kakashi explained, causing stars to sparkle within Naruto's eyes. "One problem about Sealing Techniques is that they are much harder to learn than your average ninjutsu. A technique like the Flying Thunder God could very well kill the user if they do not understand the the Seal to its fullest, meaning Sealing Techniques are very dangerous for a beginner. I wouldn't recommend learning the technique until someone can examine the seals to make sure it's not dangerous."_

_ That caused Naruto to deflate. "Okay..." Kakashi had to commend Naruto for recovering from his depression so quickly, as the boy was staring at the scroll in awe. "I wonder if this is a super awesome technique like the Fourth's... I hope I can learn it!"_

_ "As if an idiot like you could ever learn a technique comparable to the Fourth Hokage." Sasuke said snidely towards Naruto, though Kakashi noted it didn't hold as much venom as it normally did. Perhaps a good sign!_

_ Of course, Naruto didn't pick up on that __very subtle detail__. "I could too, __bastard__! I'm going to be Hokage one day, so __**of course**__ I'm going to learn techniques that the Fourth Hokage could use!"_

_ "Pfft. As if. You probably can't even learn that jutsu you have in your hands." Sasuke goaded, smirking at Naruto's growing ire._

_ "I'll show you that I can **too** learn this Sealing Technique, bastard!"_

_ "Hmph. Want to bet on that, moron?" Sasuke asked, to which Naruto nodded his head rapidly. "If you can't learn that jutsu by the time we get back to Konoha, you'll do as I say for three months." Which, by Kakashi's assumption, likely meant 'shut your mouth for three months'._

_ "Fine! If I learn it by the time we get back to Konoha, you'll have to do what __**I **__say for three months!"_

_ "Deal."_

_ "Just you watch, bastard! I'll learn it before we get back to Konoha!" Naruto unfurled the scroll, burying himself into reading it from top to bottom. Kakashi sighed as he shook his head, though he was slightly relieved that the animosity between Sasuke and Naruto wasn't quite as harsh as it had been at the start. Sure, they were still at each others necks, but it was progressing nicely into genuine friendship __and camaraderie__, rather than full blown hatred. Kakashi just prayed that Naruto didn't cause any irrevocable damage upon himself or anyone else. He'd just keep an eye on his progress._

_ When night rolled through, and Team 7 had set up camp, Kakashi naturally took watch to let the genin get some rest. Throughout the night, it was completely peaceful for Kakashi as he read his favorite book(Icha Icha Paradise, naturally) until around the time the clock struck four in the morning. Naruto burst out of his tent, a flashlight in his left hand, the scroll in his right. "I figured it out!" He proclaimed loudly, causing Sasuke to stir in his tent. Sakura was apparently too exhausted to have heard or cared about Naruto's outburst, as no sign of movement came from her tent._

_ "Dammit..." Sasuke grunted, sticking his head out of the tent to glare at Naruto. "What are you shouting about now, dumbass?"_

_ "Shut up, you!" Naruto glared right back at Sasuke, pointing the flashlight at the scroll. "I figured this Sealing Technique out!"_

_ "Did you __**have**__ to wake us all up to tell us that?" Sasuke ground out, ready to climb back into the tent, only to have Naruto stomp up to him. Sighing, Sasuke snapped out, "Fine. What does the damn thing do?"_

_ "I don't know." Naruto said simply, causing Sasuke to turn around and crawl back into his tent. "Wait, wait! I know what it's __**supposed**__ to do, but I don't really understand it." Sasuke rolled his eyes, still vying to get back into his sleeping bag, when Kakashi broke into the conversation._

_ "What does it say it's supposed to do?" Kakashi asked, causing Naruto to turn his head to him and squint his eyes shut in concentration._

_ "Well, it says that the seal allows for 'Enter-Die-Mention-Ul Travel' and that it can cross through 'Time and Space' as well as 'Die-Mentions.' I don't really understand what that means." Naruto explained, while Kakashi let out a hum of thought._

_ "It's pronounced 'Interdimensional' and 'Dimensions'." Kakashi corrected, taking the scroll from Naruto and giving it a quick run over. "From the sounds of it, it's a Space and Time technique, similar to the Flying Thunder God technique. However, it seems instead of instantaneous transportation from seal to seal, it allows travel literally through time and space..." Just looking over it, Kakashi was shocked at what he was seeing. While he was no master of Sealing Techniques, he was very knowledgeable in them – one of the best still in the village, in fact – so he could see how potentially powerful and dangerous this technique was. As one would expect of __what was possibly__ Whirlpool's Sealing Techniques. "I would suggest __**against **__using this technique. The Sealing Array doesn't look complete __in some spots__, and there are no __self-__stabilizers meaning __too much or too little chakra__ and the entire Seal could 'blow'. Not to mention there are no details on what the Seal will do to the caster, other than that it's 'Interdimensional, Space and Time Travel.' There's no telling the effects that using this technique could have upon you, or your surroundings."_

_ Naruto of course, was not happy to hear that. "But I've already learned how to use it, and I have to win my bet with Sasuke-"_

_ "Your bet is null and void, now." Naruto's jaw shut with a click. As sternly as he could, Kakashi continued,"This is an order, Naruto. Do **not** use this technique." Kakashi ordered, causing Naruto to glower but hold his tongue. Kakashi rolled up the scroll, tucking it into his own backpack in order to deliver it straight to the Third once they returned to Konoha. "Now, go to bed, Naruto. We're leaving early in the morning."_

_ Bristling, Naruto nodded and sulked all the way to his tent. Sasuke just shook his head, nearly asleep again as he crawled back into his tent. Kakashi just sighed, curious as to just who Tazuna's grandfather was to have come up with such a technique. He was dubious to think that he was a descendent of the Uzumaki, just because the sealing technique lacked a lot of staples of the Uzumaki's Sealing Techniques, but they were certainly someone who had extensive knowledge in Sealing Techniques._

_ It was no more than ten minutes later that a __bright red__ light flooded from Naruto's tent, and Kakashi felt a coil of pure, raw, __**evil**__ Chakra wrap around his body. Kyuubi. Kakashi snapped to a stand, rushing to Naruto's tent in an instant. Before he could open it to figure out just what was going on, a blinding flash of light surrounded the entire campsite. Then, complete darkness overtook him._

Kakashi let out a minute sigh, realizing exactly what had happened. Naruto didn't take his words of warning to heart, and had set out to use the technique he had just learned. More than likely, due to the intense chakra needed to perform the technique, Naruto unwittingly tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra just as he had on Tazuna's bridge when fighting the young Haku. The result was something that encompassed more than the desired area of effect for the technique. The technique had transported everything within the campsite to an unknown location.

"Me?! How is this _my_ fault!?" Naruto barked, glaring at Sasuke for the accusation.

"You didn't listen to Kakashi-sensei, and used that stupid technique anyways." Sasuke growled, crossing his arms. "Now we have no idea _where_ we are, and-"

"Stop arguing, the both of you." Kakashi ordered, causing an immediate halt to the conversation. Immediately, all three Genin snapped to attention, looking up at Kakashi expectantly. "Sasuke, you're partly to blame for this as well. If you hadn't been goading Naruto into that bet of yours, he wouldn't have been so adamant to learn the technique." Sasuke glowered at the reprimand, but accepted it regardless. Sakura on the other hand looked ready to protest. Kakashi cut her off before she could, "Naruto, you should listen to your superiors when they tell you _not to do something_. As it stands, that counts for insubordination, negligence, and complete disregard for the safety of yourself and your team. When we get back, the Hokage _will _hear of this." Naruto paled considerably, gulping loudly. Kakashi doubted the Third would punish the boy too severely, but he needed to know that this was not acceptable behavior by any means. "Your little stunt has also landed us in an unknown location, and _possibly_ an unknown _Dimension __**and**__ Time_."

"Um... Sensei... what does that mean?" Sakura asked nervously. "You said... dimension... but you don't actually mean-"

"Unfortunately Sakura, I do." Sakura looked horrified, while Naruto and Sasuke merely looked confused. "According to that scroll, the technique's _intention_ was Interdimensional, Space and Time travel." All three of their eyes bugged, though Sakura understood the implications more than Naruto and Sasuke did.

"So... you mean we could _time travel_ with this technique?" Naruto sputtered. "Whoooaa... and I actually _used_ it!? HAH! Eat that, you bastard! I won the damn bet! Whooo-" Sakura cut his victory off by hitting him – hard – in the head.

"NARUTO! YOU IDIOT! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?" She bellowed. "There's no telling _where_ we've ended up, because it's not just a transportation technique! We could have ended up on an entirely different planet,in an entirely different time, and in an entirely different _dimension_!"

"Well... I can just use the technique again and transport us back..." upon seeing Kakashi shaking his head, Naruto paled, "r-right?"

"There is no guarantee that using the technique again will transport us back to our original location." Kakashi explained, causing the severity of the situation to finally hit home in Naruto's head. "In fact, we could end up only worsening our problem."

"Is there any way to pinpoint the location?" Sasuke asked, curiously. Kakashi noted he was much more interested in the technique than he had been before. The notion of time travel was not lost on the Uchiha genius, and Kakashi wouldn't deny the thought had crossed his own mind.

"I would have to study the Sealing Array more closely, which will take some time." Kakashi glanced around, noting the remnants of their campsite were still around. The metal eyeball from before was no where to be seen. It seemed that with the creatures having been felled, it had decided it was safe for it to leave. Regardless, Kakashi found his backpack, and made sure the scroll was still safely intact. By all that was holy, it was. "Find your own bags. Before I examine this scroll, our first order of business is to figure out _where_ we are. We don't want to jump to unnecessary conclusions about interdimensional, time and space travel when in reality we simply ended up in an unknown country far from the Land of Fire."

"Right!" Naruto quickly began to search for his bag, Sasuke and Sakura following suit. Though the situation was weighing heavily on all of them, Kakashi was proud to note that they were not panicking. Apparently the mission in Wave had already strengthened their resolve. That was good.

Now if only they weren't in this predicament...

* * *

_A/N: And thus begins the start of my 'epic' story. By epic, I mean it's going to be long... probably. Unless I get stuck and never update it again. Which could happen. I will make no promises about my ability to maintain this. I already have a good number of chapters written, and have the ideas for the plots of a few worlds after that all planned out in my head... which means nothing, if I can't actually get myself to write it out... I'm pretty bad about that, you see._

_ Now, a little primer so you know what to expect. The premise of this multi-crossover story is somewhat based on the old television series known as "Sliders". If you don't know what that is, it was a show about a group of four who traveled to various Parallel Realities via physics, but were unable to return to their original world because there wouldn't be much of a show without it(more to it than that, obviously, but you get the gist). Instead of Parallel Realities(which is an idea that I considered, but opted against), I decided to have them traveling to entirely different worlds, dimensions, and even time periods. This, essentially, means crossovers. Lots and lots of crossovers. My tastes in series varies, so it'll span a lot of different things... and I won't delve into any crossovers I don't know personally, so don't expect literally everything to be featured._

_Now, I will attempt to keep the characters as in-character as possible, and I don't intend to have any radical personality shifts from what is canon. There will be character development for all, but there will be no sudden personality shifts. Like, Naruto won't become dark, brooding or super smart(he might just get a little more smart), Sasuke won't suddenly be all about friends(and probably never will be, at least overtly) nor will he go crazy and end up rogue where the group follows after him through dimensions(that'd only happen if this was Shippuden!), Sakura won't suddenly become strong and competent(it'll happen eventually, though), and Kakashi will, more or less, be the same as he always is(but he too will grow and have some moments of development, depending). In addition, I have no real intention of adding any romance or pairings into the story. I may subtly hint at some things, but it will never be a direct focus of plot or story. Despite that, canon relationships will still be canon... if that ever actually comes up, that is._

_Team 7 will learn various abilities and powers, and get various items/equipment from other worlds, but they won't become super-powered in a day. Hell, they won't even become super powered in a year. They'll progress relatively fast, but they won't be defeating the likes of gods any time soon, if ever. Eventually, they'll become 'super-powered'(as far as Naruto goes), but don't expect them to surpass Kakashi any time in the foreseeable future(if ever, depending on how I go about things... haven't gotten that far ahead)._

_ Additionally, I'll be doing my best to explain certain aspects of certain series as they come up, so if you don't know the series, you won't be completely lost. However, I won't be going into every single detail, since most of the time it won't actually come up in the story. Any information that Team 7 needs to know is what you'll get. Whether it's a good explanation or not, hell if I know. I'll be doing my best, and I'll be putting the name of the series in the headers, as well as slightly more detail in the A/Ns here at the end of the chapters._

_Two last things about the overall story, just so we're on the same page. There will be repeat crossovers where the group ends up in the same series, but they may or may not be the same dimension/time as the last time they were there. Parallel Universes may or may not come up, so there is that, too... as for the last thing, there will be an overarching plot eventually, but I have to hash the idea out before that even becomes a thing. (And for those who know Sliders, no, it won't be anything like that)_

_Now, since this is a constantly "series-changing" story as far as the crossover goes, I'm just putting it in the normal Naruto category for right now. I may put it in one of the "Misc." Crossover sections, but I'm not really sure since it'll change from games to anime to tv series, etc. Regardless, since it is in the Naruto section, I will be listing what series they crossover into are. I'm sure a lot of you know what series they crossed over into first, but if you don't know, it's the video game series "Fallout"; more specifically, it's some time before "Fallout: New Vegas". Most, if not all of the worlds that they end up in will be set in a time different than the 'canon appearances' so to speak. It helps me mesh the characters into a series better, it allows me to be more creative with my writing, and it helps me give the stories their own unique flare instead of copy-pasting Team 7 into an already established story. However, that doesn't mean it will always be that way. Depending on the series, I may dump them into the main plot, or I may not. Really just depends on whether or not I can come up with a good enough idea or not. Heh._

_For anyone who wants to do some research(in the off chance you're unfamiliar with Fallout, but want to keep reading/know more, or have a better image of what I tried[and probably failed]to describe above), the 'floating eyeball' that was playing Fallout: New Vegas' "theme"(Jingle Jangle Jingle) is known as an Eyebot, and this particular one is Fallout: New Vegas' "ED-E". The creatures Team 7 fought are known as "Deathclaws", the toughest enemy you'll likely encounter in the Fallout universe._

_ Now, with that absurdly long AN out of the way(and hopefully the LAST really long AN), I'll just say that I'm going to attempt to update every Saturday. Since I have a decent amount of chapters already written, releasing what I have weekly will help give me time to write more while balancing studying/school. Yay College!_

_Until next time. Ja ne._


	2. W1, C2: Legion

_Title: _Konoha Sliders

_Synopsis: T_eam 7 had thought there wouldn't be any more troubles after they left the Land of Waves, but a Sealing Scroll awarded to them by Tazuna before their departure held more dangers than they would have ever guessed. Now they find themselves in an unknown world with no idea how to get back, and the only chance to end up back home is to use the technique again...

_Words:_ 4971

_Series:_ Naruto, Fallout

_Chapter Title: _Legion

* * *

Kakashi was making sure to stay sharp, staying aware of everything around them through their trek through the barren, desert wasteland they found themselves in. Four hours they walked without sign of life beyond insects or vultures, four hours they sweat from enduring the scorching hot sun, and four hours they toughed it out with not a single sip of water. It wasn't that they _lacked_ water – no, Kakashi always carried storage scrolls containing roughly a dozen spare canteens of water, just to be prepared – rather, it was done out of desire to be as cautious as possible. The need to ration water was important in environments such as these, and with no foreseeable end to the desert, or even a single water source, it was best to err on the side of caution when it came to the water they did have. Until the genin showed they _needed _the water, he would continue to hold onto them in secret. As it stood, Naruto showed no real sign of needing water, as he still managed to maintain a slight bounce to his step despite the situation and heat; Sasuke and Sakura on the other hand were sagging and wearing down under the unrelenting heat. Sakura more so than Sasuke. She had terrible endurance, and it no doubt stemmed from her foolish notion of 'dieting'. There was a reason Kunoichi who lived past their teenage years had more meat on their bones than civilians. It was necessary to be hearty and healthy, not thin and frail.

Still, he was proud of them for making it this far without complaining once. Part of it, he assumed, had to do with them still dealing with the reality that they might very well be on an entirely different planet, in an entirely different _dimension_. Kakashi himself was having issues coming to terms with the notion. However, if it was proven, there wasn't anything that could help it. He'd have to pour all his knowledge of Sealing Techniques into learning and _fixing_ it. He just prayed that what little he knew about Sealing Techniques would be enough to manage such a task. From what little he had seen of the scroll, it was no simple technique.

Eventually, after nearly another hour of walking, they found the first sign of _human_ life. Rather, they found that there were indeed humans here, but there was one... problem. The human life they found was long dead, just a corpse in the sand. Kakashi was long used to seeing death, but his genin were... varied. On one hand, Sasuke had witnessed the deaths of those closest to him, and was able to brush off the sight of the corpse without much trouble... or probably would have, had it not been mutilated so severely, the head having been brutally severed from the body, the jaw blown off, and the head burnt to a crisp making the face unrecognizable as human. Similar burn marks covered the neck and very upper torso of the actual body itself. Vultures and ravens had picked off a good deal of the corpse, and were still pecking away at it, some even fighting over scraps of flesh they deemed better than the rest.

While the sight of the mutilated corpse rattled Sasuke's nerves, the other two genin were rattled more so. Sakura, this being her first time seeing a corpse that was not a "clean" kill, turned away, stumbling a couple of steps before vomiting profusely. Naruto had become white as a sheet, but did not vomit, nor did he take his eyes away from the corpse. He was too stricken by the corpse to even think of vomiting.

Kakashi took a few cautious steps forward, spooking the vultures and ravens enough that they backed off, but did not leave. The ravens took to a tree a fair distance away, while the vultures simply sat on the ground a couple meters from the body and watched the ninja as he moved. A few preliminary checks of the corpse proved to Kakashi that the corpse was a man, and that he had died somewhat recently. Judging by the fact a good portion of the blood that had leaked out of the body was still liquid, Kakashi had to guess the man died roughly three or so hours prior to their arrival.

The most important fact, however, was that decapitation did not seem to be the man's killer, nor was it the burns or even exposure to the elements. Two small puncture wounds on his back that reached all the way through to the front - one of which was situated right through the heart - were most likely the true cause of death. However, the holes were not made by any ninja tool that Kakashi recognized. The entry wounds were roughly a centimeter in diameter, and they looked as if they could have been made by senbon, but the exit point expanded to roughly two centimeters. It wasn't a wound pattern he knew, and though it may have been possible with ninja technique, there was no trace of a chakra signature left behind. That meant it had to be some sort of projectile that entered small, and flattened as it passed through the body. The amount of force necessary to do that without chakra was unheard of. A quick glance in the direction he assumed the projectiles would have traveled had the man been standing at the time of death, Kakashi had to do a double take when he noticed a small glint of light in the sand that was far smaller than any projectile he knew of.

Walking over to the glint, Kakashi frowned when he found that it was a small depressed metal object. It seemed it had flattened on impact with the sand, and was nothing more than a chunk of scrap metal. It didn't seem to have suffered at the hands of any chakra, as it was completely clean of any at all, but there was traces of dried blood. That meant it must have been thrown or fired somehow at a such a speed it could pass through someone's body and flatten on impact _without_ Chakra. That... certainly wasn't common. It obviously had a great deal of force behind it, as it was able to puncture the man's flesh – and rib cage – in one clean pass, then travel fifteen meters into the sand where it was finally stopped by nature. It must have had an absurd amount of force behind it, more so than the average ninja would be able to use without chakra.

Surveying the area carefully, Kakashi noted that whoever killed the man did not leave any traces behind, either. Either they killed the man at a greater distance than a hundred meters, or they were skilled enough to cover their tracks. He was having trouble believing the former, but if he were truly in another dimension, who knew what was possible here.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud _bang_ roughly a mile or two north, in the direction the projectiles had likely been fired at the man, but Kakashi could spot nothing in the distance. There was a tall hill in that direction, possibly implying that whatever the sound was came from _beyond_ the hill.

Tentatively, Kakashi stood and turned to his genin. "What was that?" Sasuke asked, his tone sharp with thinly veiled concern.

"I'm not sure." Kakashi admitted. "But I believe we might be able to find some clues on our whereabouts if we continue in that direction."

"Uh... Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto started, squinting up at him, "isn't that the direction where that... person... was probably killed from?"

Blinking slightly in surprise at the boy's acute observation – which implied that he had watched everything Kakashi had done – the Jounin ignored the question asked of him to ask his own. "What makes you think that?"

"Er... well, you were looking at those holes on the person's back, and then at the hill, well... if someone got hit from that direction from behind, they'd probably fall forward." Naruto explained, nervously wondering if he was wrong. "If he was killed from over there, is it really a good idea to go over there?"

"Good observation Naruto," Kakashi praised, continuing before the boy could grin, "and while it is potentially dangerous to head in that direction, it is also our only clue as to _where_ we are. If there are people over there, regardless of whether or not they're hostile, they will be our only clue as to where we are." Kakashi explained, causing Naruto to shuffle nervously. "It will also help us confirm whether or not we truly _are_ in an entirely different dimension."

"Er.. I guess that makes sense..." Naruto didn't look thrilled about it, however. Kakashi couldn't blame him, as he had his own reservations, but they had very little options available to them at the moment. "Um... is Sakura-chan really able to go, though?"

Kakashi glanced at the girl who was sitting on the ground looking away from the corpse. She was retching still, but it seemed she had already emptied all the contents of her stomach; which, judging by the puddle, had been mostly bile in the first place. For her sake, Kakashi reached into his pouch for his storage scroll, summoning a single canteen of water that he handed to her. After a moment of looking at it in confusion, she snatched it away almost greedily. She drank half the canteen in one go, gasping for air when she brought it away from her lips. After a few moments of breathing, and a few more sips of water later, she started to calm down. When she had, Kakashi gingerly picked her up off the ground and directed her _away_ from the corpse. Naruto and Sasuke followed silently behind them.

Setting the still shaken girl down on a sizable rock, Kakashi crouched down to eyeleve, examining her face closely. She was pale - incredibly pale - and she refused to look him in the eye. Likely due to the tears she was desperately trying to fight back in the face of her experienced teacher. "Sakura." The girl bit her lip, trying desperately to look away from her teacher. "Sakura, look at me." Though he made it clear that was an order, he tried to be as soft in tone as possible. Finally, Sakura looked him in the eye, trying to keep her face straight. "Sakura, I need you to calm down, okay? I understand that this situation is stressful and even frightening, but if you don't calm down, you'll only make it harder for all of us to get back home. Okay?"

Sakura nodded shakily, causing Kakashi to nod and stand up. "Breathe slow and deep. Rest a little." Kakashi instructed her, turning to Naruto and Sasuke – the former who was watching with concern, and the latter who was trying to hide his concern by looking indifferent.

"Is she going to be okay, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked in a hushed tone, looking between the Jounin and Sakura rapidly.

"She'll be fine; she's tougher than she looks. Right now, though, she just needs some rest." Kakashi explained, turning his eyes to Sasuke. "Although I'm not fond of the idea of splitting up in our current situation... Sasuke, stay here and watch Sakura. Naruto, you and I are going to scout ahead."

Though grudging, Sasuke nodded and took up a position by the rock, keeping his eyes on the distances rather than Sakura. Naruto looked put off as he was ushered to fall in line with Kakashi. It was easy for Kakashit to tell it was bugging him by how much the blond fidgeted, and when they were far enough away, Naruto opened his mouth to ask a question. Kakashi beat him to the punch with an answer. "I left Sasuke behind because, right now, Sakura needs peace and quiet to calm her mind. While I don't think you're stupid enough to bug her, I do know you would be more focused on Sakura than your surroundings. Sasuke will keep a watchful eye out, while allowing Sakura to recover herself." Not to mention Sakura preferred Sasuke to Naruto.

"Oh." Naruto mumbled, sulking. They were silent again, until Naruto began fidgeting again. Uncertainly, he looked up at Kakashi hopefully, asking, "...will Sakura-chan _really _be okay, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I think so, yes. She's under a great deal of stress – we all are, really – but in her case, she's what we would call 'green' in every sense of the word. You and Sasuke are, too, but you have had your own hardships to overcome, while she's had nothing. In all honesty, her reaction is par for the course of genin these days upon seeing their first corpse in a 'messy' state such as that." Kakashi glanced to Naruto briefly. "Which reminds me... you weren't quite as shocked about the corpse as I was expecting."

"W-well... I've seen it before, kind of... I mean, I did see that big hole in Haku's chest, and it was all gross and stuff, not that much like the body was, but kinda... and then there was what that bastard did to him afterward..." Naruto winced after finishing the sentence, looking away from Kakashi. Kakashi simply hummed and nodded, realizing that Naruto had been the only one of his genin who had looked at the body of the boy after the fact. Not to mention, he was the one to watch Zabuza tear through the mercenaries before finally falling to them. Seeing the mutilated corpses of two people who inspired his new way of life was probably more shocking than the mutilated corpse of someone he didn't know, even if the latter was more gruesome. Kakashi was just thankful that was the only reason. "Sasuke didn't seem that shocked, either, but he didn't seem to wanna look at it."

"Oh?" Kakashi was curious to know what sort of observation Naruto made on the stoic boy, as he was unable to focus on his charges while he conducted his analysis. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, uh... he didn't watch anything you did when you were looking at the body, even though he always watches you when you're doing something 'ninja-like'." Naruto said slowly, shrugging. "I wonder if he's not really comfortable with corpses... I mean, he didn't help bury Zabuza and Haku, remember?"

"True." Kakashi indeed had not noticed Sasuke's aversion to looking at the corpse, having been engrossed in examining the body in the first place. He did recall Sasuke refusing to help bury Zabuza and Haku, but Kakashi had correlated it to him simply not caring about his enemies(that only turned into allies _after _Sasuke had a brush with death by their hands). That was a fairly common trait for a shinobi, and had been Kakashi's first inclination for the boy who hadn't 'taken' to the pair like Naruto had. It hadn't occurred to him that Sasuke would have issues with corpses, and he felt ashamed to have not considered the possibility considering what Sasuke had been through in his short life. "A good observation, Naruto. I'm impressed."

"Heheh!" Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. The compliment was immediately forgotten when another _bang_ sounded, causing Naruto to jump in surprise. After a long moment of them saying or doing nothing, Naruto whispered, "What was that?"

"I don't know. I had _thought_ it was an explosion of some sort, but it sound too close, yet too weak to be one." Kakashi hummed. "It didn't seem like a firework, either. We'll have to be careful when we reach the top of the hill." Smiling down at Naruto, Kakashi said, "For once, you wearing bright orange clothes and bright blond hair might be useful."

Naruto glanced down at his outfit, squinting as he did. Then, he turned to look at Kakashi, confused. "How come?"

"Look around. Although not as _bright_ as your clothes or hair, this place is nothing but sand. Comparing the color of your clothes with the color of mine, the one least likely to be spotted from a cursory glance would be you." Kakashi explained, the blond once again looking down at himself, then to Kakashi, dawning on his face. "However... you should still try to be as discreet as possible. Camouflage is only as useful as its wearer allows it to be."

"Don't worry about me, Kakashi-sensei! I know how to hide _perfectly_!" Naruto began to snicker, clasping both hands behind his head as he grinned brightly up at the Jounin. Kakashi wouldn't doubt it, having heard the stories of Naruto giving the entire village the slip after his biggest pranks. It wasn't until the Hokage started issuing the occasional ANBU or Jounin to find him that Naruto started to get rooted out on a normal basis after his pranks. If nothing else, the boy could make his presence scarce if he felt the need.

"Alright, we're nearing the top. Stay low, and don't make a sound." Kakashi instructed, taking up a prone position as they neared the very top of the hill. Naruto nodded, keeping his mouth shut as he mimicked Kakashi. When the two of them reached the top of the hill, they found it didn't have much mass on the top, dipping immediately downward, much like a dune. Down below in the dip was a city... or village... if it could be called even that. It looked like a collection of rubble built up to _resemble _a city, not actually _be_ a city. It also wasn't very large for a city. It barely constituted as a _town_, considering it wasn't even as large as even _one_ of the clan districts in Konoha.

What _really_ got Kakashi was what he could see going on _inside_ the town. It was hard to see from such a distance, but years of training with his sole original eye had honed its vision enough that people often said it was _better _than a Hawk's. It wasn't, but it was close. From his vantage point, he could see roughly ten dozen people milling about there... but that wasn't the problem. The problem was _how_ they were milling about. There was a large platform, with what looked like some sort of soldiers standing at each end, and two dozen bound and gagged men and women kneeling down in between them.

Kakashi had only seen something like this once, but it was readily apparent to him just what was going on. This town was selling _slaves_, something that was generally frowned upon throughout the Shinobi Nations. The Land of Fire had outright banned it, to the point where dealing in slaves would result in imprisonment, torture, or even death, and those who brought slaves from another country would be refused entry into the country. Most of the other countries frowned upon it as well, and Kakashi knew for certain Wind and Lightning had banned it, along with most of the outlying countries around Fire, Wind and Lightning. The only one that Kakashi knew that still allowed it was Water, and this was nothing like the Land of Water.

"What's going on down there?" Naruto whispered, squinting in an attempt to see past the sun glaring in his eyes. He eventually raised his hand over his eyes to block the sun, but it did little to help. "I can't see anything."

Kakashi didn't say anything right away, keeping his eye on the spectacle below him. Eventually, one of the slaves – a woman judging by their frame – was forcibly stood up, a plump man rising to the stage. There was some transaction of money, before two armed men began dragging the woman away.

While everyone was distracted, one of the slaves bolted upright, leaping off the stage and making a desperate, panicked run towards one of the exits of the town. One of the soldiers on the stage lifted a strange, two-handed contraption, pointing it in the direction of the slave, before a loud _bang_ echoed through the desert. In an instant, the slave hit the ground heavily, their head having been blown completely apart by whatever impacted with their skull.

Well... that explained the explosions they were hearing. This was... unsettling to Kakashi. There hadn't seemed to have been any chakra emitted from that contraption, but it had enough destructive force as a Wind imbued kunai – if not more. Just what in the world _was_ that thing? It alone was a big enough threat as a high level _Chuunin_. Kakashi doubted anyone but a Jounin would have been able to dodge that projectile, reaching across a fifty meter distance faster than the eye could blink.

"What was that?" Naruto asked, a little nervously and a little curiously. "What caused that bang?"

"I don't know _what_ exactly it is, but it's some sort of metal contraption. It _almost_ looks like a crossbow, but it seems more... effective at what it does than a crossbow." Kakashi finally settled on, deciding not to divulge the fact they were slavers and had just killed a fleeing slave. Not yet.

"You sure it's not a crossbow? I can't see it period. Wait, no, I guess crossbows aren't that loud or Inari probably would have gone deaf." Naruto rubbed his chin, squinting his eyes in thought.

"What it is doesn't really matter much, Naruto." Kakashi informed the boy, who blinked owlishly. "We should be more worried about its destructive force. It's very likely that it is what killed the corpse we found in the desert." Though it did not explain the burns on the man.

Naruto gulped audibly, remaining quiet for once. The blond was trying very hard to see what was going on down below, but his eyes were not as sharp as Kakashi's own. To him, the people – he assumed they were people – down below looked like tiny little ants moving around in unison. They were just a blob of people, moving together, just like ants looked when they were tearing a piece of food apart together. Naruto didn't, couldn't see what they were doing, and it irritated the boy to be left in the dark when it was obvious Kakashi could see what was going on.

Then again, it was probably Kakashi's intention that he be left in the dark. If that person had been killed and left for dead like that, no doubt Kakashi wanted to keep things on the low for now. Naruto thought that was a little silly. He could handle these things just fine, he thought.

Suddenly, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's wrist, dragging him to a stand. "Stay low and stick to me! Don't say _anything_." Kakashi ordered sharply, but not harshly. Naruto nodded, allowing himself to be pulled along. Naruto didn't know how long he was dragged, but he _knew_ it was far. When Kakashi had finally, _finally_ stopped, the hill was no longer in view.

One problem. He hadn't dragged him to where Sasuke or Sakura were. "Kakashi-sensei, what about-"

"Quiet." Kakashi said quietly. "Someone's found Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto, and they were heading to _our_ position next." He explained, in a hushed whispered, the two of them situated behind a large rock that he briefly glanced around.

Nervously, Naruto looked up at Kakashi, already able to tell he was _not_ happy. Not in the slightest. "_Who_ found Sasuke and Sakura?" Naruto asked in a small voice, hoping, _hoping_ it wouldn't be bad. Hoping whoever found Sasuke and Sakura weren't bad people. However, judging by how quickly they fled, and from the expression on Kakashi's face, Naruto knew... it was _bad_. Real bad.

"Slavers found Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto. Slavers."

* * *

Sasuke cursed their predicament. It irritated him how _easily_ he had been snuck up on, by someone who very clearly hadn't a single bit of ninja training in their life. All they had were knowledge of the terrain, _zero _chakra signature to speak of, and being very lucky to stumble upon a mildly distracted Sasuke. Normally, Sasuke would have tried to fight, had it not been for that very strong, very disorienting blow to the back of his head with that heavy metal... thing. By the time he had recovered, Sakura had been held at knife-point, while the other one held a large metal thing in Sasuke's face. Rather than risk one of them getting seriously injured – or worse, dying – Sasuke surrendered.

After that, Sasuke and Sakura were bound at the wrists and led towards the hill Kakashi and Naruto had went. They were both poked and prodded towards the very small 'city', where they ended up underground in a holding cell. "You should be glad we're having a slaver's auction today." The man who found them said as he shoved them into an empty cell. "The two of you won't be 'trained' until tomorrow. Gives you time to come to terms with your new... occupation." The man shared a laugh with his compatriot.

Sasuke let out a growl at the man, glaring at the man with a powerful killing intent. Even though he was technically safe on the other side of the locked bars by now, the man backed up a few paces regardless. Sakura herself had shrunk away from him, and had taken up residence in the far corner of the cell, away from everything.

Eventually, a frail, old, and thin man waltzed into the holding cells, arms clasped firmly behind his back. His attire was... odd, in Sasuke's eyes. It was just a collection of crimson and brown cloths covering him, with a small amount of leather armor padding the most important places. It was... not _neat _attire, but incredibly primitive, much like the two men that had captured them. A pair of glasses rested upon the end of his nose, looking somewhat out of place with what might as well have been rags. "Open the cell doors. I don't have all day."

"Right away, Decanus." The man who had found Sasuke and Sakura grunted, quickly unlocking their cell door and letting 'Decanus' inside. Sasuke assumed it was a rank, rather than a name, judging by how it was said. It was said with the same tone as someone would refer to their superiors, not as a personal address. "Don't try anything funny, now." The guard said, pointing whatever weapon it was at Sasuke, who merely glared right back.

"Young ones, eh?" The Decanus muttered, looking Sasuke up and down and only briefly glancing at the sitting Sakura. "Wasteland punks by the looks of it." The Decanus scoffed, before reaching into the satchel at his waist. "Regardless, you two will be useful to mitigate the slaves we lost in the auction today. Young ones are _always_ the most valuable. Gives them time to grow into their roles." The Decanus pulled out two metal objects – collars? - and took a step closer to Sasuke. Sasuke reflexively took a step back, but the Decanus' spare hand seized his wrist and dragged him back. Soon, one of the collars was around his neck, locking tightly and firmly into place. No matter how much he struggled – bound as he was – Sasuke could not tear it off.

"I wouldn't mess with it, boy." The Decanus said with a sadistic smirk. "Unless a key is used to remove it, the thing will blow your head _clean_ off." Sasuke stopped tugging at the tight, constricting metal around his neck to stare in disbelief. "Don't think of escaping, either. That thing will automatically detonate if you get too far from the city." With that said, the Decanus casually walked over to Sakura, forcibly attaching the same collar around her neck. Sasuke tried to stop him, but the heavy end of the contraption in the guard's hand butted up against the back of his neck, the cold metal freezing him in the spot. Sasuke couldn't explain it, but a fear gripped his heart, as if one wrong move would result in his death.

Unbeknownst to him, it did.

"Now that that's taken care of, I'll be taking my leave." The Decanus left the cell, the guard shutting and locking it behind him. "You said there were two others on the outskirts, Legionnaire?"

"Yes, sir. An older man, and another young boy. They fled to the east when the older one realize we were approaching. I was going to open fire, sir, but they moved _fast_. Never seen anyone move that fast in my life. I don't think even a Cazador could have caught up with them. They also didn't seem to be aware they were in our territory up until that point. No sane group would split up in Legion territory – hell, no sane group would split up in the wastes period! Now that they know, they're probably long gone by now." The guard, the 'Legionnaire' said. He began to grow nervous, entirely due to the displeased man standing in front of him. Quickly, he said, "If you, ah, wish it, sir, I can round up some of the men and we can try tracking them down! They can't have gotten far in this heat!"

"I'll issue out a search party or two once our guests have retired for the night." The Decanus said after a moment of consideration. "We do need to restock after this month's auction. Might as well take the ones that would foolishly wander into the heart of Legion territory." The Decanus briefly glanced at Sasuke and Sakura, the former who was still glaring murder at the man. Smirking, the Decanus turned his head, walking away. "If nothing comes from the search, we've at least started acquiring our newest stock."

* * *

_A/N: Not 100% sure how I feel about this chapter. It's something of a 'rush into things', but I felt it necessary to get the ball rolling. I don't want to focus too much on a single world, as that'd defeat the purpose of it being a Sliders-esque scenario. Which leads me to a point I should bring up: worlds will vary in length depending on my idea(s) for them, but I'm limiting myself to a maximum of 10 chapters for a single "visit". That way, it gives me enough chapters to focus on a world and its plot well enough, but gives me incentive to make it concise and to the point, rather than potentially dragging it on past its welcome(which is something I'm prone to do). Naturally, this 10 chapter limit doesn't apply to the series as a whole, just the individual. Chapter length will vary, too, and my aim is over 4000 words for each. Depending on what happens, chapters will either be close to 4000, or well over 4000. Just depends._

_Additionally, there will be "timeskips" in the sense that they might go from, say, world 10 to world 15. I'm primarily planning it this way so as to imply not all worlds they enter are interesting or have some sort of conflict for them, to give lee-way in the off chance I come up with a plot idea for a series that I may want to add in the middle of somewhere, and to have time pass without showing everything. This won't be for a while, though, and when it does happen, it'll be said mid-story._

_Until next time. Ja ne._


	3. W1, C3: Secret of the Shadow Clone

_Title: _Konoha Sliders

_Synopsis: _Team 7 had thought there wouldn't be any more troubles after they left the Land of Waves, but a Sealing Scroll awarded to them by Tazuna before their departure held more dangers than they would have ever guessed. Now they find themselves in an unknown world with no idea how to get back, and the only chance to end up back home is to use the technique again...

_Words:_ 7671

_Series:_ Naruto, Fallout

_Chapter Title: __Secret of the Shadow Clone_

* * *

It was a few hours past mid-day, the sun beyond its peak, but its heat and intensity no less than at its highest point. In a desert, there was no such thing as "shade", but here there were the occasional dried out tree, and, luckily enough, cliff sides that provided considerable shade from the intense sun. One such cliff is where a jounin and his genin had found themselves, hidden away from the sun, as well as potential onlookers.

Of course, one of the two's loud voice would make it easy enough to spot them.

"We have to go in and get them!" Naruto shouted, glaring up at Kakashi who was _refusing_ to go into that crappy looking city and _help_ Sasuke and Sakura; to rescue them from those damned slavers that had snuck up on them. "They're going to become_ slaves _if we don't _do_ something!"

"We can't rush in blindly and save them, Naruto." Kakashi said, all too calmly for Naruto's liking. "We have to think about this calmly and rationally. Rushing in will only get _us_ in trouble, and then we'll be of no help to Sasuke or Sakura then, will we?" Naruto didn't say anything, just bit his lip to keep from stubbornly denying the logic behind the statement. "The only way we're helping Sasuke or Sakura is if we think rationally, examine our options, and carefully plan our movements. We still don't know anything about their kidnappers yet."

"We know that they're _slavers_." Naruto said weakly, crossing his arms and trying his hardest not to rush over to the city and raise hell. He could do it, too. Naruto doubted they'd expect a thousand of him to come rushing in while throwing kunai and punches left and right. _No_ _one_ would expect that. Naruto knew that much. "Why can't we just go in with Transformations on? You already said they don't have any chakra."

"I said the weapon didn't have any chakra, not the people there. Normally, something of that much destructive power requires _some_ chakra, but it's like a Crossbow. No chakra, but still capable." Kakashi explained. "While a transformation _might_ work, we still don't know anything about the place, or even the capabilities of the people in there. If we go in with a transformation technique, but lack basic knowledge of the people we're infiltrating, they're going to think we're pretty suspicious. If we're lucky, they'd ask us questions. If we're not, they'll just kill us with those weapons before we can even realize what's going on."

Naruto kept himself from deflating then and there. It was something he already knew, but didn't want to consider. Not when Sasuke or Sakura were in the hands of slavers. Who knew what they were going to do to them? What they _were_ doing to them at this very instant? Naruto knew slaves weren't common these days. Iruka had said they were banned in most places when Naruto had mixed up the word 'servant' with 'slave', and gone on a long and very detailed explanation about the difference between the two so he wouldn't upset or insult anyone by calling them a slave when they were actually just a 'servant'. All Naruto really got from that speech was that servants were paid and willing to do their jobs, while slaves were forced into doing jobs they did not want to do, always without pay and without regards to the person's health. If they disobeyed, they'd usually be whipped and tortured and stuff like that.

Well, the last stuff didn't come from Iruka's explanation. Naruto just remembered seeing some movie about a slave called Spoonicus or something and there being whipping involved. It was one of the more 'adult' movies he snuck into at the theater once, thinking it would have naked girls like that other movie he had snuck into, but it didn't. He didn't remember much about it beyond there being slaves, and the overwhelming disappointment of no naked girls.

"Believe me, Naruto, I don't want those two to be in that place any more than you do." Kakashi said, drawing Naruto's attention back to him. "Because of that, we're going to skip over most of the surveillance work we'd normally do in this sort of situation. Considering the circumstances, we don't have that much time to waste." Kakashi said, which made Naruto feel only _worse_ about their situation. After all, wasn't it _his_ fault they were in this mess? If he hadn't been so excited about that stupid jutsu, they'd be safe and sound in Konoha by now... "We're still _doing _surveillance, but it won't be as extensive as I would normally perform."

Kakashi's hands flew through several hand seals that Naruto couldn't quite catch, before he reached down and flattened his palm against the ground, "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!" The Jounin said, and...

Nothing happened. Naruto waited quietly, watching Kakashi patiently, expecting _something _to happen, but nothing did. Kakashi himself seemed to be confused as to the absolute nothing that happened, as he straightened, his brow furrowing. Then, as quickly as he had before, went through a set of hand seals. "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!" He said again, slamming his hand against the ground.

Once again, nothing happened. "Kakashi-sensei... um... what are you doing?"

Kakashi said nothing as he straightened slowly, his eye downcast in a grim expression. "Well, I can confirm one thing..." he said, slowly. "We're not in our world, anymore."

Naruto blinked owlishly, tilting his head. "How do you know?"

"I was..." Kakashi paused, struggling for the words, "trying to summon my _ninken_, who I have a contract with. I used the technique fine – my chakra was drained as it normally was – but they did not appear. Which _means_..." Kakashi heaved a sigh, shaking his head, "we're somewhere that's _far _out of the technique's range. At least, that's what I would presume, all things considered. I've never heard of a summoning technique being out of range, or unable to be summoned – outside of chakra exhaustion."

Naruto gulped audibly, unable to hide the guilt from his face. Kakashi sighed again, shaking his head. "Well, I had feared as much, so it's not so surprising... all this means is that we should be quicker in our investigation and rescue attempt. Without my ninken, I'll need your help, Naruto."

Breaking out of his sulking, Naruto stood at attention immediately, looking up at Kakashi with a burning determination in his eyes. "You can count on me, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi smiled, nodding his head. "Good. I think it's about time you learned a little something about the Shadow Clones, and what its _original_ intent was..."

* * *

It was quiet in the cells, barely a sound being made, on occasional cough, or rough inhale; the only constant sound was an annoying, looping drip of water from one cell's faucet. A sound that would normally have bothered, or irritated Sakura, but she found herself focusing on other things; far more important things than a dripping faucet.

Rationally, she could admit to being in a state of mental shock. Her mind was whirring with the concept of interdimensional and interworld space and time travel, one that she would have easily admitted to being a fairy tale a mere few days ago. After all, it was a concept only created by science fiction authors – people living in _fantasy_ worlds. There were many great shinobi who criticized the idea of such concepts with the usage of Sealing Techniques. One of the most lauded and talented Shinobi of their era when it came to Sealing Techniques – The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju – wrote a number of theses about the impossibility of, what he coined, "Anchorless Travel". He called it Anchorless, because all known "Time and Space" travel required a seal to be placed at the destination, an "Anchor" so to speak. This anchor could be placed by the user ahead of time to transport themselves there immediately, but it could also be used in the reverse order by "summoning" someone from another location(such as the seal used in the "Summoning Technique").

Additionally, any attempts at Anchorless Travel resulted in immediate and instantaneous dematerialization of the entity attempting such "Anchorless Travel". Their body would, in short, be dematerialized and that was it. Without the "Anchor Seal" there to recreate and rematerialize the dematerialized atoms, the user of such a Sealing Technique would simply cease to exist.

It was, in essence, why so many people were intimidated by Sealing Techniques and only the Second and Fourth Hokage knew the "Flying Thunder God" technique. The technique, as stated by its creator Tobirama Senju, was "remarkably simple" to perform, but one misuse and the person using the technique would die without even realizing it.

Frankly, most shinobi didn't even know _that_ much, but Sakura had enjoyed that sort of stuff while in the Academy, and all that information was freely available in the Academy Library. Naturally, being the curious person that she was, she read many famous shinobi's theories on _Ninjutsu_, G_enjutsu_, and _Fuinjutsu_. It was precisely that knowledge that she had picked up so quickly on what the technique Naruto had foolishly used did.

And it was precisely why she had been so shocked and horrified by the notion. Her shock was quickly escalated by the sight of a horribly disfigured, mutilated corpse that they had stumbled upon. It had reawakened the fear of death in her, and the severity and reality of their situation. All she wanted in that moment upon seeing the corpse was to be back home, in her nice and comfy bed, day dreaming about the wonders of being a kunoichi, and being on the same team as Sasuke. Worse still was the fact she had been so scared and shocked that she not only looked weak in front of Kakashi, but in front of Sasuke too.

Then Kakashi went and had Sasuke watch her. It was the worst! Sasuke just stood there, watching the surroundings while she sat there weak, afraid, and smelling of vomit. Then, when she had tried to make things less awkward by saying she was feeling better, they had been snuck up on and captured by _slavers_. It was her fault. She knew that, Sasuke knew that, but thankfully Sasuke never once mentioned it, and Sakura didn't open her mouth a peep since their capture, for she knew it would only make their situation that much worse. The tension from her raven-haired teammate was palpable, and she didn't want to set him off.

Yet, despite the situation getting worse, she felt oddly calm. Relaxed even. Less scared than she _had been_. It was that reason that she could reasonably say she was in a state of shock. She was so shocked that the entire situation seemed completely unreal, and her mind was simply watching the events unfold with a detached curiosity. It would unnerve her if she wasn't so calm.

Still, there was at least _one_ bright side to the situation. Namely, Kakashi and Naruto were still out there, uncaptured by the slavers. Just that thought alone filled her with an unnatural sense of calming. The memory of Kakashi telling her – them – that, "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." He had said it with such intensity, too, that she couldn't imagine him going back on it any time soon, if ever. No doubt he was out there, biding his time, coming up with a plan to rescue them. Even if the odds were against him, he'd fight through thick and thin to get them back, just like had fought against Zabuza to near death, just to protect them from the 'Demon of the Mist'.

Naruto was just the same. Sakura would easily and readily admit that. Even though he was annoying and stupid, he was _determine__d_. Failure was never an option for him, even if everyone else thought failure was the only option for him. She knew that Naruto had come to regard both her and Sasuke as friends, and even if they didn't reciprocate those exact feelings, he wouldn't just abandon them. Of them all, he had taken to Kakashi's creed the most.

Those thoughts, she knew, were what were keeping her sane in her state of shock. They were a comfort, no matter how mild they might actually be. She was confident that both Kakashi and Naruto would be bursting down the door, throwing her and Sasuke's cell open and get them out of this hell-hole. It would be soon.

Soon...

...

Right?

* * *

"What do you mean the 'original intent of the Shadow Clones'?" Naruto muttered, squinting from the sunlight that Kakashi stood in front of after he had decided to move further away from the city. Unfortunately, their new vantage point lacked the cover of a cliff, but it did have a large rock that Naruto promptly sat down on. "Isn't it just a solid clone for fighting things with?"

"No. The original intent of the Shadow Clone was most definitely much reconnaissance; be it infiltration, information gathering, or having ears in multiple places at once without the risk of putting your life directly on the line." Kakashi explained. "Have you figured out the main 'trick' of the Shadow Clones?"

"Uh... there's a trick to it?" Naruto mumbled, rubbing his chin in thought. "Is it... er... is it that you can't tell which one is a clone and which one is the real one?"

Kakashi sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Make a clone, Naruto." Kakashi said, and Naruto did so. Immediately after, Kakashi made one of his own. The clone of Kakashi gestured for the clone of Naruto to follow him, the two clones walking away out of ear shot of the originals.

"What are those two doing over there?" Naruto asked, frowning as he watched the clones begin to converse with one another.

Kakashi smirked slightly, throwing a quick glance at the clones. "You'll see in a minute. For now, I'm going to ask – and explain – a couple of things. First... do you know what the 'Henge' is?"

Naruto scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "Of course I know what the Henge is! It's the transformation technique. It's what my strongest technique is based off of!"

Blinking, Kakashi tilted his head. "Strongest technique?"

"Uh-huh!" Naruto nodded sagely. "It's called '_Oiroke no Jutsu_'!" Breaking into a grin, Naruto excitedly said, "Want to see it!?"

"Er... I'll pass for now." Kakashi said, causing Naruto's exuberance to deflate. "What I _meant_ was do you know _what_ the Transformation technique is _exactly_?"

"Uh... what? You mean is it like an ninjutsu or a genjutsu or something?"

"Yes, something like that." Kakashi said, causing Naruto to cup his chin.

"Er... well, I think it's a ninjutsu, but it's just a bunch of chakra taking the shape of what you're transforming into over your body. I think that's what Iruka-sensei told us in the academy, anyways." Naruto shrugged, looking up at Kakashi curiously. "Why?"

"Well, that's partially correct." Naruto looked appropriately confused. "The Transformation technique is something of a unique technique as far as ninjutsu is concerned, as there are technically three stages to it. First is the technique taught in the Academy where it's just an illusion that can be dispelled by outside means – namely opposing ninja. The second version is usually naturally transitioned into when a ninja's chakra reserves are strong enough to allow the illusion to become 'solid' in that it cannot be dispelled outside of the user becoming unable to maintain their chakra, but it still has no physical form that can be touched. The third and final version is a Kinjutsu – a forbidden technique – and S-Rank technique that's generally viewed as too dangerous for use outside dire situations, but its by far the most useful." Kakashi explained, causing Naruto to bounce in his seat in anticipation.

"And? What is it?"

"To put it simply..." Kakashi started, "it's an actual _transformation_. The technique is literally transforming the user's entire body into something else." Kakashi paused, looking down at Naruto seriously. "From what I've heard from the Hokage, this is what _you've_ been doing."

"Huh? Me?" Naruto pointed at himself. "What do you mean? I thought I learned the academy version of the technique!"

"You _should _have learned the academy version of the technique, and by all means you _did _learn the academy technique. However, it seems that your chakra reserves are simply too large to accommodate such little chakra usage, and you've been instinctively using the same chakra levels that the S-Rank version uses, quite literally transforming your body every time you've used the Transformation Technique." Kakashi explained, causing Naruto's eyes to widen slowly. "Tell me, have you ever transformed into something _smaller_ than your body? Or transformed into an inanimate object?"

"Er... well, there was that time when I became one of Sasuke's big shuriken things to surprise Zabuza."

"Hm..." Kakashi cupped his chin, frowning in thought. "How do you normally perform the Transformation technique?"

"Uh... like this!" Naruto's hands slowly went through the three seals – Dog, Boar, Ram – and after a puff of smoke later, it was a second Kakashi sitting there instead of Naruto. "How do I look?"

Kakashi pushed his forehead protector upwards, looking at Naruto with the Sharingan. He could immediately see through the chakra that had taken his shape. "Intangible." He said, humming in thought. Naruto made a noise, and another puff of smoke later he was back to his normal form. "What was the technique that you used on the Hokage when you took the Forbidden Scroll?"

"The Sexy Technique! I'll show ya!" Naruto said excitedly, his hands flying together to form a single seal – Ram – and after a puff of smoke, a woman was sitting in Naruto's spot. She was considerably taller than Naruto, had blond hair that was tied together in twintails, and was stark naked; oddly, the smoke still in the air was mysteriously covering her breasts. "How do I look?" Kakashi had to remind himself that it was _Naruto_ purring behind the transformation, and not an attractive woman sitting there in her birthday suit like his Sharingan was telling him was there.

"Tangible, and I see what you're doing, now." Kakashi crossed his arms. "You're simplifying the hand seal sequence with your 'Sexy Technique', and the result is an overcompensation of chakra due to the control you're losing by shortening the sequence. That overcompensation is resulting in a genuine transformation."

The female version of Naruto frowned, her face twisting in a manner that was very Naruto-like... after all, it _was_ still Naruto sitting there. "Is that a good thing...?"

"Have you ever used your 'Sexy Technique' to transform into something else? Particularly an inanimate object, like I mentioned before."

The "Sexy Technique" was surrounded by smoke, the normal Naruto once again sitting there. "Nope! It's the 'Sexy Technique', after all! Why would I transform into anything else?"

"It's a good thing you didn't, then. There's a very high chance you wouldn't be sitting there, if you had." Kakashi explained, causing Naruto's face to screw up in confusion. "The third version of the transformation technique – which your 'Sexy Technique' essentially is – is quite literally a full body transformation. However there are a still a number of limitations with this technique. One of the biggest thing to remember is that you need to properly transform your body in a way that your internal organs and chakra pathways are capable of keeping the transformed body alive. For example, if someone two meters tall decided to shrink themselves to a meter tall, they'd have to also shrink their brain, their heart, their lungs, liver, kidneys, bones and all the rest of their innards down to a size that the meter tall body would be capable of housing. Otherwise, their two meter tall body's organs would be crammed in a meter tall body and would probably get crushed; or worse; they'd tear themselves open."

Naruto's jaw dropped open in shock at the information, and Kakashi smiled grimly down at the boy. "That isn't to say you can't shrink yourself... you just have to calculate your body properly. Chakra pathways are similar, as you need to properly transform them so that you're capable of properly molding chakra still, but it's less particular than the organs. As long as you can mold chakra to reverse then transformation, you should be fine.

"Additionally, there are limitations to increasing your size as well. The more mass you add onto your body, the more energy and chakra you need to use to keep going. Think of it in terms of Sakura – she has a limited amount of stamina that even her current body tends to get tired out. If she decided to transform herself to twice her size, she'd – more or less – be doubling the amount of energy and passive chakra she's using. She'd tire herself out twice as fast. Understand?"

Naruto slowly nodded his head. "I think so. Basically, if I shrink myself, I gotta be careful that my guts are also being shrunk or I'll explode. If I grow myself, there's more energy and chakra being used, so I get tired quicker. Right?"

"Right." Kakashi affirmed, nodding his head. "There's also what I mentioned with inanimate objects... the biggest limitation of a full body transformation is transforming yourself into something without organs and chakra. If you decided to transform yourself into something like a wooden chair, for example, they have no genuine chakra pathways, and additionally no reasonable place to store your internal organs that you absolutely _need_ to keep living. All this means is that you would likely lose them if you didn't account for a spot that they could be contained. Do you understand what that means?"

Naruto gulped audibly, nodding his head slowly. "_I_ would _die_, and just become a normal chair?"

Kakashi nodded. "Basically. It's unlikely you would become a _normal _chair – you were, after all, once a ninja – but the point still stands. This is why it's a Forbidden Technique, and why you should be very, _very_ careful in what you transform into, as you might find yourself being unable to transform back. Something like your... .ah... 'Sexy Technique' should be fine to transform into, as there isn't much difference between yourself and it, but I would be especially careful about the anatomy _down there_. If you aren't careful with your transformation back – particularly, if you aren't properly dispelling the technique – you could really end up becoming a girl."

"O-okay." Naruto gulped loudly again. Don't get him wrong, he liked the Sexy Technique aplenty... but he didn't want to _become_ the Sexy Technique. That'd just be _wrong_. Naruto was perfectly happy to be a guy. "So, if I wanted to transform into something smaller, I should just use the normal henge?"

"Yes, just be sure you're not channeling too much chakra into the technique. To be honest, you're lucky the additional hand seals gave you enough control to use the lower levels." Kakashi glanced to the right, where the clones were. "Now should be a good time to dispel your clone." Kakashi told Naruto, who nodded and formed a hand-seal. A moment later, he jerked backwards in surprise.

_"Ne, ne... why are you dragging me out here, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto, or rather the clone of Nartuo asked, squinting up at the clone of Kakashi._

_ "I'm going to explain to you the truth behind the 'Shadow Clone' technique." Kakashi explained, sitting down on a rock. "There are several things to know about the Shadow Clone technique. First, explain to me what a normal Clone is."_

_ "Er... 'it's just a little bit of chakra taking on the original caster's shape' or something like that." Naruto muttered, recalling what Iruka had explained to him months ago when he was asking him what was the importance of the Clone, seeing as how it wasn't tangible. "'It's mainly a 'die-version' technique, meant to fool people in a quick ambush or attack.' I think it has a couple other uses, but I don't remember 'em."_

_ "That's more or less correct. There are some 'unique' things you can do with a clone. Perhaps the most popular use amongst seasoned ninja is what most call the 'Doppelganger Technique'. Since the clone is intangible, you can hide a clone in your own body. If you maintain it during a fight, and you dodge an attack, you can have the clone mimic your movements in reverse, making it appear as though you're going to counter attack from two locations at once. This forces whoever was attacking you - and was unaware of the clone during the fight - to guess between which side is the real one." Kakashi explained. Naruto thought that was a cool idea, and if he had known that he could do THAT with it, he might have spent more time trying to learn the Clone technique. "There was a particularly notable ninja, Shisui of the Body Flicker, who had mastered all the Academy techniques to the point where in his hands all of them were considered B or A ranked ninjutsu."_

_ "Er... what do the rankings mean, exactly?"_

_ "Usually it pertains to the technique's strength or effectiveness, while also taking into account the technique's difficulty. There are some extremely difficult techniques that are simply not __that __useful, but still have an A-rank, while some __relatively__ easy __to use __techniques – like the Shadow Clone – have a higher rank due to their usefulness or the danger they poise to the user." Kakashi explained. "Now, back on track. Beyond the simple Academy level clone, there are the tangible __**elemental**__ clones. These are the most used of all clones, as they're usually the easiest to maintain, while still being useful. There are a lot of variants – Water clones, Mud clones, Sand clones, Wood clones, Lightning clones, Fire clones, and the like. However, if you lack the element needed for those clones, they take much more chakra, and require much more concentration to maintain."_

_ "What about Shadow Clones?"_

_ "That's what I'm getting to." Kakashi said, with a smile. "The original creator of the Shadow Clone was the massively talented, creative Second Hokage, who-" Kakashi paused, looking at Naruto for a brief moment. "Do you know who the Second Hokage was?"_

_ Naruto rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Of course I do! What sort of Hokage would I be if I didn't know the Hokage who came before me?!" Naruto crossed his arms, mildly glaring up at Kakashi. "There was Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi – the old man! - and Minato Namikaze, who was the coolest of them all!" He paused for a brief moment, as if reconsidering his words. "...Even if he did seal the Kyuubi in me."_

_ Kakashi had to withhold a wince at that, especially considering there were circumstances to the sealing that many didn't know, including even the Third Hokage. He wished he could assure Naruto that, if things had gone better, he wouldn't have had to deal with the burden, but he didn't have the right or authorization to reveal such secrets._

_ "Right." Kakashi cut in, forcibly dragging himself from melancholic thoughts. "Either way, it was Tobirama Senju who created your favored technique, and he was widely regarded as the leading practitioner of Theoretical Ninjutsu."_

_ "Theoretical Ninjutsu?" Naruto repeated, confused._

_ "Ninjutsu that is regarded as possible, but lacking something to make it actually work." Kakashi said, choosing his words carefully to ensure Naruto understood him. "The reason Tobirama Senju was considered the leading practitioner was because he took theoretical ninjutsu that people thought were impossible, and made them **possible**. His skill with ninjutsu was widely heralded as one of the best of his time, and the amount of ninjutsu he created is nearly unparalleled by any other ninja in history. The Shadow Clone was just one of his many techniques."_

_ "Cool..." Naruto muttered, only to scratch his head. "So, uh, what does that have to do with the true purpose of the Shadow Clone?"_

_ "I'm getting to that." Kakashi said. "The Second Hokage started researching the 'Shadow Clone' for several purposes. His primary reason for researching into the theoretical 'Shadow Clone' was to create one that was both easy to use, and one that was usable by anyone. If it was a non-elemental ninjutsu, anyone could freely use it, and the user wouldn't be at a disadvantage if their opponent had the element advantage. When he had proposed the theory, the idea of a non-elemental clone was considered impossible. As your usage of the technique shows, he was very successful in creating it. However, because it was a 'theoretical ninjutsu' that was never fully refined before its creation, there were some pretty glaring issues with it. Particularly, it created what could be regarded as a legitimate clone of the user, taking on the caster's mind and their chakra reserves. But it didn't end there. As it was a legitimate clone, any damage and fatigue the caster had at the time of using it was also carried over. It was a remarkably powerful technique, and one that shows the Second Hokage's finesse and skill at creating ninjutsu, but it - like many theoretical ninjutsu that become legitimate - had some drawbacks that hampered its widespread use._

_ "One was that, as it used the user's chakra reserves, both the user and the clone would split the user's current chakra reserves between them. Second was that since the chakra reserves would be split, excessive usage of the technique could easily result in chakra exhaustion or worse: death. Then there was the fact that, since it had a mind of its own, the user had no direct control over the clone's decisions in battle unlike elemental clones. At the same time, there were several advantages the technique had that the Second Hokage also didn't account for. As it was a clone made out of tangible shadow, and had its own chakra system, it could easily transform itself into other shapes and forms with the Transformation technique, giving it a massive edge over the elemental clones that could only take the form of the user. Additionally, since it had its own mind and chakra reserves, it could be used to create diversions or plan attacks without direct user involvement. In his attempts to create a better type of clone, the Second Hokage had created a vastly different technique that had uses far beyond its original intent."_

_ "Hmm..." Naruto nodded his head, appearing almost sagely as he did. "Then, since it's got a mind of its own, are you saying I should send in clones to check the place out, and if he gets found out, it won't be me who's captured?"_

_ "Yes, but there's one other trait the Shadow Clone has that other clones decidedly lack. Since the Shadow Clone can be considered an extension of its user, there is one more vital part of it that is widely regarded as the most important part of Shadow Clones, and partly why it's considered a dangerous Kinjutsu."_

_ Naruto frowned, tilting his head. "What's that?"_

_ Kakashi glanced to the side, looking at their original selves. "I think now is about when you'll figure it out."_

_ "Hu-"_

Naruto blinked, a little dizzy as the sudden thought - dream - no... _memory_ hit him. It took several seconds for him to sort his thoughts before he finally looked up at Kakashi. "So _that's_ the secret of the technique, huh?"

"Yep! Every clone, when dispelled, will transfer the memories they gained back to the original body." Kakashi smiled, causing Naruto to feel a little awe about it. "I suppose the reason you hadn't realized up until now is because you haven't made the Shadow Clones do something that _you _aren't doing. When the memories come to you, you're probably internally filtering them out, just because they're more or less the same as your actual memories."

"Hmmm..." Naruto cupped his chin in thought. "So, you're saying I should use the Shadow Clone technique together with the 'solid' transformation you told me about?"

Kakashi nodded his head, smiling down at Naruto. "That's exactly right. Using the two techniques in combination is a powerful tool for any Shinobi, but very few have that level of chakra capacity to utilize it."

"I guess I've got an advantage in that regard, huh?" Naruto asked, rubbing his stomach idly. Then, he grinned, looking up at Kakashi with a determined look in his eyes. "So I'm gonna be doing some special infiltration, huh?"

Kakashi nodded, smiling down at his student. "That you are. Considering your clones will transfer their memories to you, and can transform into _anything _you want them to with no risk to your body, you are already a fairly capable infiltrator. The best thing you can improve on is your ability to hide chakra, but it should be fine as it is.

"Oh, and I should mention this before I forget, but... be careful when you create a _lot_ of clones. If you have a thousand clones all witnessing the same short memory as you, you should be relatively fine, but if you have a hundred clones witnessing different memories, and you dispel them all at once, you'll overload your brain depending on how long the memories are. What could happen then could be as minor as a mild headache, or as major as permanent brain damage or even death. Keep that in mind." Kakashi warned, causing Naruto to gulp and nod his head. Naruto hadn't known he knew such _dangerous _techniques before all this... "Now come on. The sun will be setting in a few hours, meaning it's the perfect time to start. When we get closer, I'll tell you what you need to do."

"Roger!" Naruto saluted, snapping to a stand. "Let's go!"

* * *

The door let out a shrill whine that dragged on, opening slowly and deliberately, before it stopped abruptly against the wall. A single man stepped through the open doorway, carrying in both hands a rusted, metal tray that had over a dozen bowls on top. Two guards that had taken a seat at a small, round table glanced up at the newcomer, before they promptly began to ignore him, returning to their idle card game.

"Feeding time, boys and girls!" The man called jovially, dumping the tray on the ground unceremoniously. With quick, graceless movements, the man distributed the trays between the cells quickly – and messily - before he lifted the tray off the ground. "Enjoy!" He called lightly as he left, leaving them with a loud metallic bang as the door slammed shut.

Many of the occupants of the cells shifted over to the food once he was gone, quietly eating what was given to them, while a few remained sitting, either too shocked to think of eating, or as a conscious attempt to starve. With nothing better to do, Sakura scooted towards the two bowls of what she could only describe as some sort of gruel-like mess of brown. It was particularly unappetizing looking, but its smell was fairly pleasant, or more pleasant than anything else in the cells. It was a welcome change to the mixture of piss, feces, and vomit that permeated the air.

Feeling the hunger in her stomach, along with mild numbness she felt in mind and body, Sakura reached out and grabbed one of the bowls. There was, thankfully enough, a small wooden spoon that she used to scoop a tiny bit of the gruel out. Despite its horrendous appearance, Sakura tentatively took a bite.

It wasn't as bad as she was expecting, but far worse than she had found herself hoping it would be. Ultimately, it was tolerable enough that she could stomach a few bites at a time to stave off the growing hunger she had beeen feeling.

Looking over at her teammate, Sakura hesitated for just a moment, before asking, "Do... you want to eat, Sasuke-kun...?"

The boy, who had been ignoring everything up until that point, turned his eyes to her. Involuntarily, Sakura flinched, his eyes boring into her face, his expression completely blank. "I _refuse_ to stoop so low as to eat that slop." He snapped irritably, the harshness in his voice causing Sakura to wince.

Saying nothing further – and knowing that Sasuke's opinion of her had dropped from the act of eating this "slop" - Sakura took a few more bites of the "food", trying her best to ignore the irritation and anger emanating from Sasuke. However, she couldn't ignore it forever, and she found herself blurting out, "I'm sorry for getting us caught!"

The words, at first, didn't seem to register for Sasuke, his expression having briefly morphed into one of confusion. However, the words eventually set in and he scowled. "Even if you are at fault for getting us captured, I'm also to blame for not paying attention." He said, and though anyone else would consider that along the lines of 'don't blame yourself', the way he said it made it apparent it was anything but. There was clear disdain towards Sakura in his tone, but most of all there was self-loathing.

"Dammit!" Sasuke cursed, slamming a fist against the bars he was leaning against. "If only I were stronger...!"

Biting her lip, Sakura considered saying nothing for a brief moment, before deciding to say, "But... it was _my fault_ we got captured, not yours..."

Sasuke sneered, saying, "Even if you were the one who got us caught, _I_ allowed myself to be distracted by you enough to allow them to get the drop on us." Sasuke snapped. "If I had been stronger, that wouldn't have happened..."

Being stronger didn't exactly mean a person would also be more observant and less prone to distraction, but Sakura wisely kept that to herself.

"Why did that dumbass have to use that damn technique?" Sasuke grit out angrily, slumping further to the point his head hung between his knees.

Sakura figured Sasuke was going through his own internal battle of coming to terms with their situation, and unlike Sakura, Sasuke was not shocked enough to reach the "calm" state she had. It made sense, seeing as how Sasuke was emotionally stronger than she was; at least, that's what Sakura presumed.

Whatever the case, Sakura returned to idly nibbling on the food given to her. It seemed tasteless to her, now, but it was mildly helping her stomach. She just hoped it wouldn't upset it when it finally settled. Either way, eating was a better option than sitting there wasting away in wait of the remainder of her team.

* * *

One thing Naruto learned quickly was that the Shadow Clones transformed into small animals or insects could no longer utilize jutsu. There were several reasons, the lack of defined fingers being a notable problem for him, but the biggest one was he didn't know how to make the chakra pathways properly, meaning he could no longer control his flow of chakra. He couldn't even _dispel _the transformation while in a form like this! They were also far more susceptible to impacts compared to his normal clones. A normal clone needed a powerful punch or kick to dispel it, but a fly could be dispelled by a swift wind, and a rat could be dispelled if they walked head first into a wall by accident. That happened fairly often, because even if they were a bug or a rat, they were still Naruto. He had no idea how to walk or see through the eyes of a rat, and he had trouble flying and seeing as a fly.

Still, it was going well for the most part. Every repeated summon meant he had obtained all the information of how to move as the creature his clones took the form of, meaning it became progressively easier to move for all his clones. It was a much quicker learning process than anything he'd ever learned before it, and it was a technique Naruto had wished he had when a test was coming up in the academy. He might not have flunked them all, if he had it!

Tests aside, Naruto had learned quite a bit while doing some information gathering. For one, Naruto could understand everything the people inside the city were saying, but for some reason couldn't _read _anything. It didn't make any sense to him what was written, but Naruto wasn't the _best _when it came to reading or writing.

More than that, he learned what they called their weapons. 'Guns', or at least he assumed. One of the slavers handed the weapon to another slaver in a building with _dozens _of the 'guns', saying 'my gun broke and needs fixing', so Naruto figured that it was called a gun. Kakashi knew what the word meant – some jutsu had the word in their name – but actually admitted to having _heard _of a gun as far as the weapon was concerned. It was only in hearsay of others who had traveled to the distant non-Ninja countries and came back talking about their 'guns' and 'firearms'. He hadn't know what they were capable of, and seeing what they _could _do made him more wary about the distant countries, now. One more thing to tell the Hokage about.

Their slave auction had ended a few hours ago, and the next one wouldn't be for another month. That meant their 'new slaves' would get some 'proper training' or something. Naruto was just thankful that Sasuke or Sakura wouldn't get sold right away. If they ended up sold to different people, that'd make things an even bigger problem than it already was.

Naruto also heard that they were organizing a search party to find 'the other two who got away'. When Naruto had told Kakashi about that, the latter had moved them a bit further away, which was a pain in Naruto's ass... well, rather it was a pain in Naruto's _clones_ ass, since they had to travel further than before. It also caused Naruto himself to get a little nervous. The length it was taking to get there and begin searching the further places made it take that much longer. Having to wait that long constantly made Naruto fear he'd get found out(especially since there were now _patrols _he encountered along the way), even though Kakashi insisted he was fine.

"If they haven't figured you out yet, it's doubtful you'll be figured out _now_." Kakashi said, in order to placate the boy. "When infiltrating a ninja village, it's always most dangerous when you _first _infiltrate, not once you've already infiltrated it. If security systems didn't detect you the first time, it's unlikely they'll detect you the second time, or the third time, or so on." Naruto truly hoped that was the case, because he really didn't want to be the reason they got caught.

Then, there was _progress_. The moment one of his clones dispelled, Naruto sat up straighter, eyes sharpened, and his lips thinned. "I found them!" He whispered excitedly to Kakashi, wracking his brain for their proper location. "They're... underground. By the largest building, there's a basement... it's like a prison, almost."

"It likely is, if they're all slaves to be auctioned off." Kakashi said, cupping his chin. "What sort of numbers do the enemies seem to have?"  
"Um... probably five dozen or so?" Naruto squinted his eyes, cupping his chin. "They're mostly guarding the entrances to the 'city', not the prison itself. Only have a few guards there."

"Where would you say there are the least amount of guards?" Kakashi asked, to which Naruto tilted his head.

"Probably... the east side... um... east is the right, right?"

"If you're looking at it on a map, yes." Kakashi said, before pointing to his left. "That's east when in correlation to real terms. We're currently facing south, so our left is east."

"Oh, okay... then it's on the west side, I guess." Naruto scratched his head, eyes squinting in confusion. "Or is it north?"

"Never mind the direction for now." Kakashi said with a light sigh. "What else can you say for certain?"

"Um... there are a lot of people that aren't dressed in the uniforms in there, too. A few of 'em are sleeping, and the rest are at the bar there in the city."

Kakashi hummed, cupping his chin. "My guess is that they're some of the people who attended the auction remaining until the day breaks." Kakashi mused. "If they're not directly affiliated with the slavers, we might not have to worry about them as much. I can't imagine they'll risk their lives to protect the slavers, so long as _we_ don't directly threaten _them_."

"I guess...?" Naruto shrugged. "How are we gonna get inside, though?"

"That'll be the harder part. It won't be impossible, but it also won't be easy. With them still looking for us, their guard will be much more alert. However, if we wait until the cover of night, things _should_ go smoother for us." Kakashi said. "The fact these people seem incapable of detecting you will while transformed leaves me to believe they're incapable of utilizing ninja techniques. A fact that greatly helps us out."

"That means we'll be able to use transformation technique to get in, right?"

"Right, and we'll be able to use the normal version. Now, keep scanning the place. I'd like for us to have as much information as we possibly can before night falls. We've still got a few hours before then, so keep at it."

Naruto couldn't help but sigh. For him, all he wanted to do was burst in there and save Sakura-chan and Sasuke, but that wasn't an option with Kakashi in charge. "Got it..."

* * *

_A/N: Whew! Apologies for the rather wordy chapter where not a whole lot happens. I was in the mood for exposition and technical jargon when I wrote this chapter. __It happens, sometimes. I just get typing and my fingers don't want to stop, but the result is usually very little progress._

_Fun Fact: I rewrote the first Sakura-bit and the "Secret of the Shadow Clone" section this past week, __**and**__ I added in the second Sakura + Sasuke bit in the same time frame. I'm almost never satisfied with what I write, and always feel the need to rewrite parts, or add more stuff to something. It's a bad habit, I tell ya. Still, it gave me the chance to add very minor and subtle stuff that may seem like unimportant now, but may hold some significance later on. What those bits are, well, I won't say. I'll just say that I have laid down the ground work of the plot surrounding their interdimensional travel, and it's quite the doozy. Not everything is worked out(obviously. Haven't gotten that far into the story!), but I have more than what existed when I first posted this so there is progress!  
_

_Until next time. Ja ne._


	4. W1, C4: Jail Break

_Chapter Title: __Jail Break_

_Words:_ 6616

_Series:_ Naruto, Fallout

* * *

When the sun set in the Sonoran Desert, the area was blanked by near total darkness. Though the night sky had once been an excellent source of light from its many constellations, the pollutants, radiation and smog that permeated the air in the wake of the Nuclear War clouded any light that would have illuminated the desert.

The only illumination in the darkness of the night were two flashlights, both messily taped to the underside of two separate guns' barrel. Rather than pointed carefully forward, the guns were held idly and comfortably, their holders – two Legion "Recruits" – not particularly keen on their current assignment.

"Why are we still out here, in the middle of fucking night, looking for some runaways that aren't even ours yet?" One of the recruits asked irritably, his thumb flicking the safety of his assault rifle off and on absently. "We haven't found hide nor tail of their tracks since a ways back, why d'we gotta be out here looking for them? They've gotta be long gone by now!"

The recruit's irritation at his predicament caused the small group of three's leader – one Legion "Veteran", Gavius de Folia – to turn and sneer at him. "And that's why you're just a recruit after all these years of service." Gavius said callously. "They can't have gotten far in this terrain, especially not with how abruptly they started covering their tracks. They'll be forced to stop for rest somewhere, and more than likely they'll take cover in the cliffs."

"Yeah, sure," the second recruit muttered, "but they're in our territory. You really think they're gonna stick around in spitting distance of us?"

"They won't stick around much longer." Gavius said sharply. "But they won't make it far in the night, not with the Cazadors out. That's why we have to find them tonight, or they'll be long gone in the morning."  
"I say they're already long gone." The first recruit muttered under his breath, his voice not carrying to his squad leader. "Why d'you think they split up in the first place, anyways? They can't have stumbled upon our territory without figuring out its part of the Legion."  
"We're not particularly overt here in the Sonoran Desert anymore, not since we took out the NCR encampment." Gavius said, shrugging lightly. "More than likely they were simply scouting the area out too close to our turf. Then again..." Gavius snorted to himself, finally saying, "if I didn't know any better, I'd think they were planning an attack!"

"An attack from one adult and three kids?" The recruits barked with laughter. "Kids attacking a legion encampment? That'd be the day!" They shared a laugh together, eventually petering out to silence, the only sound being the crunching of their boots in the sand underfoot.

One of the recruits stopped, turning his head to the left. "Hey, did ya hear th-" he was cut off by his own scream, his gun flying out of his hands as he was yanked to the ground. His gun slammed against the ground, the flashlight pointed westward, briefly illuminating the guns' owner's legs as he was dragged away.

"Marcus!" The other recruit barked, swinging his rifle around to where the recruit disappeared to, only to illuminate nothing but sand. "Shit! What the hell was that?!" He hissed, Gavius drawing a pistol with a flashlight attached, idly flicking it on.

"I don't know, but..." Gavius trailed off, carefully examining his surroundings, gun held cocked and at the ready. "whatever is out there, it's human." The recruit looked at Gavius sharply, before warily returning to staring down the sights of his gun. "Keep your wits about you, kid. You let them get in your head, and you're finished."

Words of wisdom that were not the most comforting to hear in their current situation.

"Hu-" the recruit started to get out, but was cut off when the air was forced from his lungs upon contact with the sand. Something pulled hard on his leg, and the recruit panicked, his hand clamping down on the trigger of his gun, firing blindly and wildly into the night. Gavius attempted to get a lock on what was dragging him away, but there appeared to be nothing, and he lost sight of the recruit when he ran out of ammunition, the muzzle fire no longer illuminating his position.

Gavius cursed several times, no longer having anyone there to cover his six. He kept circling around, holding his pistol straight ahead of him. He knew he'd be attack soon, the only question was from _where_.

His answer was nowhere he was looking, and came from somewhere he least expected. _Beneath him_. A pair of hands wrapped themselves around his ankles, and before he could register what was going on, he was dragged into the sand, buried up to his neck. His arms were pulled further into the sand, and he soon found himself incapable of moving at all.

"What the fu-" Gavius forcibly cut himself off when he realized breathing was incredibly difficult. He needed to regulate his breathing, or he'd end up suffocating himself.

"How is it, down there?" A voice asked, Gavius looking up to find a vague silhouette looming over him. Tall and thin, the shape of the figure wasn't intimidating by nature, but from Gavius' current vantage point, it certainly was.

He didn't grace the question with an answer, simply convincing himself to stay calm and breath deep and slow.

"Not going to talk, huh? That's a shame." The figure squatted down, resting his elbows on his knees. "I know a lot of ways to get people to talk, you know."

Gavius said nothing, but he noticed a second figure – smaller than the first – walking noisily to the side of the first. Despite standing, he was barely taller than the squatting figure of the first. "Why don't we just beat him up until he talks?" The second figure asked, a relatively high, shrill pitched voice.

"It'd be remarkably easy to in this situation, and it'd only make sense." The first figure shifted, reaching into a pouch of sorts and drawing what looked like a knife. "_Especially_ if he isn't going to talk without it."

Gavius let out a snort despite the pressure of sand. "If you think you can intimidate me into talking, you have another thing coming to you bastards. I won't speak of any Legion secrets, _dogs_!" With those final words, he spat a wad of saliva at the man's feet.

Rather than be indignant at the gesture – and the second figure made a noise of disgust at the spitting – the first figure merely chuckled, resting on one knee as he leaned forward. "I have to commend you for your loyalty to your 'Legion', but there are ways to pry secrets from even the tightest of lips." The man said, reaching up to his own head.

Something changed in the figure, and though everything else was completely black, Gavius could see one thing on the figure in the darkness of the night.

A single red eye stared into his own two, black teardrops spinning around its pupil. It was mesmerizing in a way, and Gavius found himself feeling mildly lightheaded. For some reason or another, he didn't seem to notice the sand around his body, or his rough breathing. It felt... as if he were sleeping, but still awake.

"You will answer all of my questions. Understand?"

Unsure of what was going on, Gavius stared at the figure in front of him blankly, his mind processing the question. Then, he answered with a slurred, "I understand..."

* * *

If there was one thing Naruto would readily say about the entire interrogation of the "Gavius" guy it'd be "creepy". The way Kakashi made him all... drooling and compliant when he had been defiant just seconds before, and all the stuff the guy said about the "Legion", the slaves, and the methods of "taming"... it all just gave Naruto the chills.

Still, there was one pressing thing he wondered, and found himself asking.

"Is Sasuke gonna be able to do that?" Naruto asked Kakashi nervously, wondering if the raven-haired boy would end up making _him _all drooly and compliant with his Sharingan. Just the thought made him shiver.

"If he masters the Sharingan, yes, he will. In fact, his will be more powerful than mine are, considering he'd have _both_ eyes to weave the _Genjutsu_." Kakashi said, idly looking over the "pistol" that Gavius had had on him.

"Ugh..." Naruto shuddered at the information, hoping that Sasuke never mastered the Sharingan in that way.

"Although," Kakashi continued, trying to figure out how the pistol fired its projectiles and being wholly unsuccessful. Gavius hadn't helped much, in that regard, "I used another Genjutsu separate from the Sharingan's to get the same sort of results as having two Sharingan would have."

"Oh." Naruto wasn't totally sure what he meant by that, but accepted it anyways. "So, did you figure out what the 'guns' do yet?"

"Not totally. I know that this trigger is what fires it – just like a crossbow, really – but I still haven't figured out what causes it to fire."

Naruto scratched his head, squinting as he did. "Does it matter how it fires?"

"Not massively," Kakashi admitted, idly flashing the light in Naruto's direction, "but knowing all I can about these weapons would help in fighting against them."

"I guess..." Naruto crossed his arms, looking mildly indignant. "Can't you just take all the guys out like you did the three here?"

"If I could, I certainly would." Kakashi said slowly. "However, there's a reason missions against bandits are generally ranked as C-class missions, with some even being B-class. Strength in numbers can be a scary thing, especially if they have weapons with this much potential power."

"But aren't you a Jounin? Shouldn't you be, like... A-class or S-class?"

"Doesn't mean that I can't be hit by a stray projectile and die from it." Kakashi said very seriously. "Even the strongest ninja can be beaten, Naruto. The Second Hokage died in battle against twenty elite jounin from the Mist, despite him being stronger than every single one of them individually. There is only so much _one _ninja can do."

"Well..." Naruto trailed off, hunching his back as he tried to think of something to say in response to that. "I'm here too..."

"Yes, but you're a genin. While I will say that your ability to use Shadow Clones as much as you are able to is impressive, especially for your age, but it won't be enough to shift the tide in our favor, I'm afraid." Kakashi waved the pistol back and forth, drawing Naruto's attention to it. "One shot from this and you'd probably lose a few clones, if not more than that. With several dozen of them going off all at once, you'll probably have your clones wiped out pretty quickly. It wouldn't be as big of a problem if your clones were capable of dodging them reliably, but at your current level that's not possible."

"I _know_." Naruto groaned, sulking as he did. Rather than watch Kakashi try to figure out how the pistol worked, he shuffled over to the larger gun that had fallen when Kakashi had taken out the first recruit. Crouching down, he lifted it up, finding it was heavier than he was expecting. It also seemed really unwieldy considering its size, but he relented that part of the problem was his short arms. He wasn't as tall as the guys that had been using them, and it showed.

Still, he kept his hands and fingers away from the "trigger" that would fire the weapon, and instead focused on other parts. His first decision was to tear off the flashlight and use it to see what he was doing better, and he was successful after some struggling.

The thing looked pretty weird, Naruto thought. It was shaped kinda like a crossbow, but it had a big metal box jutting out of the bottom side, right in front of the handgrip and trigger. Naruto wasn't sure what it was supposed to be; it was too large for his hand to wrap around, so it wasn't some sort of handle to hold onto.

Naruto noticed a small button of sorts on the side of it, right above the metal box. Tentatively, he pushed the button, but nothing seemed to happen. It didn't fire or anything, and there was no sign anything happened to it.

Frowning, Naruto picked up the gun roughly with his right hand, and immediately balked when the metal box part fell out. "Oh crap...!" He said, nervously. Kakashi glanced up at hearing him, and Naruto turned sheepishly to his teacher. "Um... I think I broke it."

"You broke it?" Kakashi asked dubiously, walking over to the boy. "..." Though he would admit he was no expert, he had doubts that the boy broke the gun. The box's edges were too _clean_ for it to be reasonably considered a break, and the gun seemed to have an empty socket where the box looked like it would fit.

Leaning down and picking up the box, Kakashi examined it more closely to see just what it was, and it was in that box that he got an idea of _what_ the gun's mechanics were. There were long metal cylinders inside the box, larger in radius at the bottom, thin to a point at the top, and segmented between the two. It seemed to be that way until the very bottom of the box, and – with a little finagling – Kakashi popped one of the cylinders out of the box.

The top part was almost like a pellet, shaved to be thin and end in a small point, but a pellet nonetheless. It was some sort of metal, too. Although in finer condition, and darker in color, it wasn't unlike the flattened metal he had seen in the sand from before, and he assumed that this was the projectile these guns fired.

Applying a small amount of force to the smaller top bit, near the segmented section, Kakashi managed to pry it away from the larger part of the cylinder. It eventually came out with a pop, and he noted that the top bit was longer than could be seen, but only slightly. Glancing inside the larger bit, Kakashi couldn't see much inside – a combination of the darkness and the fact the opening to see inside was narrow - but he _could_ faintly smell something within.

"Firepowder..." Kakashi said with mild awe, and it all began to click. The exact mechanisms behind how this fired still eluded him, but he was no aware of one key aspect that made it make sense; how quickly it could fire, the strength it fired at, its noise...

"What's that?" Naruto asked, pointing the flashlight at Kakashi's hands, trying to catch a glimpse at what Kakashi was looking at.

"It's the primarily component in a few ninja tools, namely smoke bombs, flash bombs and shrapnel bombs." Kakashi said, earning Naruto's full attention. "It's also used in fireworks, and it's what causes it to 'explode', more or less."

"How does it work?"

"Well, its most basic function is creating a chemical reaction that – when it reaches sufficient heat - results in a large burst." Naruto's eyes were slowing narrowing. Kakashi sighed a little, wondering why he even bothered. "It explodes when it gets hot."

"Oh. Cool. So is that what makes the thing shoot?"

"I would imagine so. Most likely, there's some sort of mechanism in the actual body of the 'gun' that triggers the firepowder inside this cylinder, and it super heats it that causes it to burst and fire." Kakashi hummed. "The idea behind it is scarily simple, and I'm surprised it hadn't been discovered in our world."

"So, uh... do you know how they work, now?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.

"More or less. Most likely this box here connects to the gun and feeds it the ammunition. Then, when its run through, they either have to replace the box, or they have to replace the ammunition manually."

"So it's not unlimited?"

"No, but that's really its only weakness as far as I can see." Kakashi leaned down, picking up the actual gun. With a second of glancing it over, he inserted the box into the gun with a _snap_. "The box is small and compact – not much larger than a pair of kunai, really – and its simple to insert. And..." Kakashi paused briefly to look at the gun properly, finding a small button right above where the box was. Pushing it, the box fell out. "it's easy to detach, meaning it'd be easy to refresh the supply of ammunition on the fly. Even a civilian would be a threat at the range and ease which they could attack with." Kakashi said, causing Naruto to gulp. What Kakashi didn't say was that an experienced ninja could be a death machine with this.

"Hm... so, uh..." Naruto crossed his arms. "Does that mean anything? Are we still going to go in there?"

"Absolutely." Kakashi said, setting the gun down on the ground, picking up the 'pistol' he had left in turn. After a brief check, he found the box that held the ammunition was inserted into the hollowed out hand grip, making it nice and compact. Setting it back on the ground, he pulled out a storage scroll that he used to seal them inside – even if he wouldn't use them at this point, holding onto them wouldn't hurt.

"I think it's about time we start executing the plan."

Naruto nearly whooped with joy, but held it back. There was no telling if anyone would be around to hear it. "Alright!" He said fiercely, pumping his fist. "Let's get Sakura-chan and Sasuke out of there!"

* * *

Their plan was relatively simple when it came to its intricacy, but required more than enough skill and experience to result in success. Even experienced Chuunin would have difficulties infiltrating a civilian city by posing as a member of either its government or its police. Regardless of a civilians' lack of ninjutsu knowledge, they could still tell when someone was not who they claimed to be. Even if they had no overt way to discover foul play, they could still tell based on personality quirks.

Adjusting the gun in his hands, Kakashi glanced to his _four_ compatriots, of which three were Shadow Clones. The real Naruto was unchanged from his normal appearance – beyond his pack and pouches that Kakashi had placed inside a sealing scroll – while two of his Shadow Clones were in the appearance of the two subordinates of 'Gavius', and a Shadow Clone of Kakashi's own was posing as himself. It was an unusual arrangement, even for Kakashi, but he felt confident it'd work.

The reasoning behind using a clone in place of himself was simply because he wasn't totally confident in leaving an easily dispelled clone with the most vital role in their infiltration. Thus, he would be filling in that role himself, even if it put his life at greater risk. Rather than a full body transformation as Naruto's clones did, Kakashi simply used the usual henge, as it'd no doubt be more than enough to fool the mostly chakra-less 'Legion'.

There were two guards outside the city's gates, and they raised their guns as they approached, lowering them only when they saw the three in Legion garb, and even further when the noticed the two in cuffs being dragged along by the two transformed Naruto clones. "Caught the little rats, didja, Gavius? Hah! Lucius and Regulus aren't gonna be happy that you caught 'em." One of the guards said.

"Yeah," the other agreed, "they keep complaining that you're stealing all the prey."

"It's hardly stealing when we're all participating. I simply happen to be the most capable at actually finding the rats." Kakashi answered in a way that seemed appropriate with what he gleamed from Gavius.

"Tell that to them when they come yelling and screaming at you!" The first guard laughed. "Go on in! The Decanus has been waiting for one of you to find them."

Kakashi nodded curtly, gesturing for the two Naruto clones to follow. They shoved their 'prisoners' ahead, Kakashi following behind them. When they were beyond the gates, Kakashi felt he could breathe a little easier, as there were less immediate potential threats around. There were, of course, a person or two milling about, but they were remarkably lax in it compared to the ones outside the gates. It only made sense. They were inside the city gates, meaning they didn't need to be on high alert.

"Which direction was the 'Decanus'' office?" Kakashi whispered to Naruto, who glanced around the city.

"That way." He finally whispered, lightly pointing towards the northeast. "It's the one with stairs on the outside."

Kakashi nodded, before lightly pushing the blond into moving in that direction. When they reached the building, he said, "Stay here. I'll head up."

When Kakashi entered the building, he immediately noticed that it was remarkably unappealing inside for the leader's office. The walls were sheet metal, much like the city walls and gates, and all the furniture looked absolutely weathered. The man whom Kakashi assumed was the Decanus sat at a rusted metal desk, and Kakashi was struck by his frail frame. He was old, remarkably old, but much like the Hokage, he had a sharp look in his eye that betrayed his age.

"Gavius?" He asked, eyes narrowing slightly behind his glasses. "You're already back? I presume you have word of the runaways."

"Yes, sir." Kakashi answered with a nod. "We found them hiding out in the cliffs to the north. Seemed they were camping out for the night. We managed to get the drop on them in their sleep, and we've got them tied up downstairs. My men are keeping their eyes on them."

"Good." The Decanus said, the tension in his face relieving somewhat. Opening a drawer in the desk, he pulled out several items, most notably a keyring with several dozen keys dangling noisily. "Let's go reunite them with their friends, shall we?" He asked with a thin, cruel smile.

"With pleasure." Kakashi answered with a smile of his own, though it certainly wasn't genuine in any way.

Once they were downstairs, the Decanus sneered at Naruto and Kakashi, letting out a mild scoff. "Wasteland punks really are the only stock we get around these parts. They are all so low quality."

"Oy!" Naruto started, irritated by the comment, but one of his clones shoved the butt of his gun into his ribs to shut him up. "Urk...!"

"At least most of them are young." The Decanus continued, without acknowledging the fact Naruto said anything. "Children are always the easiest to tame."  
It was rare that Kakashi felt genuine disgust for a person, but the Decanus was making a very strong case for it. The way he spoke about people as if they were livestock... it genuinely made Kakashi feel sick to his stomach.

But such disgust would only be a hindrance. Steeling himself, Kakashi said, "Aye, I'm sure they'll fetch a pretty price in the upcoming auctions. Well, provided they don't get stupid and try to run."

The Decanus laughed, nodding his head. "Let's get moving, boys." Gesturing onwards, the Decanus walked towards the building with the cells. It wasn't a large building, but it wasn't small either. In fact, the building itself was not where the cells were, but rather it was a basement that was inside. The building was just a housing that seemed to be a barracks where most of the guards and soldiers were bunked, but it seemed most of them were out at the moment – it made sense considering there were apparently two other search parties out at the moment.

Stepping into the basement, they were immediately greeted with the scent of a mixture of all bodily fluids. It was a rather acute smell, and it was one that was not uncommon for holding cells such as these as terrible as that was to think.

Kakashi noted the two guards sitting at a beat up wooden table, playing what appeared to be Poker. They, upon seeing the Decanus, rose to a stand and stood at attention immediately.

"Look alive, new stock! We've got your friends here to join you in your rot!" The Decanus said with a grin as he stopped outside one of the first cells. Sakura and Sasuke, who were both sitting inside, looked up in surprise. Sakura's face immediately morphed into that of dread, while Sasuke's was one of disbelief and – quickly becoming – anger. "Come now, no rejoicing after this wonderful reunion? A pity." The Decanus said with a sniff. Turning to Naruto, the Decanus lifted one of the collars in his hand. The blond was regarding him suspiciously, and was trying to shrink away, but one of his clones kept him in place much to his annoyance.

They were doing a good job at acting the part, but it sure was annoying having a clone force you into a situation it certainly wouldn't want to be in.

Reaching up to the blond's neck, the Decanus attached a metal collar around it. Upon it clamping shut, the boy winced at the newfound pressure. It was just tight enough that it cut off a minor amount of air with every breath he took, but not enough to give him issues breathing; just enough to be annoying, really. Naruto had to seriously struggle to prevent himself from clawing at the annoying piece of metal, and he only did so because he knew he'd get nudged again.

After Naruto's collar was in place, he did the same with Kakashi; the clone was thankful the pressure wasn't strong enough to dispel him then and there. With the collars firmly in place, the Decanus flipped through the keychain and opened the cell with Sakura and Sasuke.

"Get in." The Decanus said sharply, Naruto and Kakashi's clone shuffling in with the 'assistance' of Naruto's clones. With them inside, the Decanus slammed the cell door shut, locking it behind them. "Four fresh stock the day of an auction. I think that's a new record, eh, Gavius?" The Decanus asked with a smirk.

"That it is. Let's hope the month's harvest will remain as good."

The Decanus briefly paused as he looked at Kakashi, the action causing Kakashi to take a small, sharp breath as he waited for some sign of suspicion from the Decanus. It never came, as the Decanus finally nodded his head. "We can certainly hope." With a grin, he continued, "How about I treat you boys to a round of wine at the bar?"

Warily, Kakashi said, "Thanks for the offer, sir, but it's rather late and we were out searching for so long... I think I'll retire for the night."

The Decanus nodded his head at the same time as he drew a pistol from his hip. Pointing the gun directly at Kakashi's head, he said, "I don't know how you're doing it, but I've known Gavius for years now, and you aren't him."

Kakashi cursed under his breath as the two guards at the table raised their much larger guns. Naruto's clones immediately became restless, and were unsure of what to do.

"One of you two louts," the Decanus started, briefly taking his eyes away from Kakashi, "go get another-" that moment of distraction was enough for Kakashi to grab hold of a kunai with his right hand, leap forward and stab it in between the Decanus' ribs and straight into his heart. With his left hand, he flung two shuriken at the two guards, each one impacting with their throats.

Though the three of them were dead within seconds, the Decanus' hand had clamped down upon being stabbed, the gun in his hand firing and letting out a loud _bang_. Though the projectile missed completely, and harmlessly bounced off the wall, it was still incredibly noisy. Almost immediately, there was sounds of scuffling up above, and Kakashi cursed the luck.

"Naruto! Go to the door and try to barricade it!" Kakashi barked, glancing to the two clones as he did.

"Got it!" The two clones said, rushing to the door, one of them dragging the unused table towards it.

Letting his transformation drop, Kakashi picked up the fallen keychain and started working on the lock. "Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you two had gotten captured...!"  
Kakashi gave her a thin smile, saying, "I might be known as tardy, but thankfully I'm not _that_ tardy. Unfortunately, my plan didn't work out quite as well as I had hoped."

"Why didn't you just make him all drooly like the other guy?" Naruto – the real one – asked as he immediately started tugging at his collar.

"Don't do that." Sasuke said sharply as he rose from the ground, his words causing the blond to look at him. "They said if you mess with it, it'll blow up."

Naruto's eyes bugged and his hands dropped to his side in a heartbeat.

"To answer your question, Naruto," Kakashi said, flinging the cell door open. "Genjutsu require a lot of effort and chakra control. It was quicker and easier just to trick him through the use of a transfomration, but as you can see that didn't work out to well." Naruto made a small 'oh' sound, before Kakashi asked, "Now, what was this about these collars exploding?"

"He said they'd explode if we tried to remove them without they key, or if we got too far from here." Sakura said, shakily. "Something about getting out of range of its signal. I don't know if anything he said was true, but..."

"You didn't want to try it." Kakashi finished. He could understand the reasoning, and thinking about it, he supposed it was most likely _true_. The corpse they had encountered out in the desert was decapitated, which was most likely a side effect of the collar was a deterrent against escaping, but if the attempted runaway he had seen earlier was any indication, some chose the collar's death over a life as a slave. Kakashi marveled at the cruelty of it all, and resolved to leave this place – _world –_ as soon as possible. "It requires a key, right?"

"That's what he said." Sakura nodded, and they both looked at the keychain in Kakashi's hands, along with the several dozen keys that dangled from it. "...but he didn't say if it'd explode if it was the _wrong_ key."

"... Let's not go with trial and error, then." Kakashi said, slipping his pack off. From it, he pulled out several sealing scrolls, unfurling them and extracting their contents. One of them contained Naruto's pack and another his pouches, all of which he handed to the boy, while the last contained five canteens of water that he set aside. Grabbing one of the empty scrolls and a brush from his pack, he walked over to the trio, settling on Naruto first.

"Um... Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto started nervously, backing up slightly. "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"I'm not." Kakashi's admission caused Naruto to gulp, eyes bugging. "But I'm pretty sure it will."

"If I die from this, I'm haunting you!" Naruto warned, to which Kakashi shrugged.

"You wouldn't be the first." With that rather morbid comment, Kakashi began to draw seals on the scroll, leaving a large empty space in the center. After that, he drew a single seal on the collar. With a single hand seal, there was a puff of smoke around the collar, followed by the scroll's center 'writing' itself. When the smoke cleared, there was no collar.

All four of them let out a sigh of relief at that, Naruto and Kakashi's the heaviest of them. "That's one down. Two more to go."

"That's great!" One of the clones by the door shouted, the flimsy wooden table propped up to help them in keeping the door shut. "But I don't think I can keep this up much longer!"

Kakashi nodded his head, moving the other scrolls into the room and drawing the seals on them quickly. In under a minute, both Sakura and Sasuke's collars were off, and Kakashi was depositing them from the storage scroll and replacing them with the canteens.

"It's about time..." Sasuke grunted, rubbing his neck irritably. "What do we do now?"

"I say we go out there and kick their asses!" Naruto said fiercely, eyes burning with determination. "Anyone that could lock other people up and use them as slaves needs someone to come and knock them around a bit!"

"As nice as that sounds, we're outnumbered." Kakashi said flatly. "While I might be able to hold my own out there, the three of you would have issues dodging their weapons reliably. It'd be straight up foolish to try to go out there and fight."

"But-"

"No buts." Kakashi cut him off. "We don't have the time for it. Right now, we need to get out of here, and I feel that our best bet on getting out of here is to use the technique that got us here in the first place."

"What?!" Sakura asked, her eyes widening. "But there's no telling what will happen if we do that!"

"And we'll just end up in _another_ place we don't know, that may be even _worse_ than this one!" Sasuke snapped in agreement. "I don't see how doing what got us _in this mess_ again will help us."

"It's a risk, no doubt about that, but one of us is likely to die in our current situation. I'm taking the call that'll most likely guarantee all of ours survival." Kakashi said, quickly adding, "And this is an _order_ from your teacher." before anyone could protest. None of them were about to disobey a direct order, not after what he said when they first arrived in this world. They certainly weren't happy with following it, but they wouldn't disobey it. Not yet.

"B-but..." Naruto started, looking at the cells that still held several dozens of people. "What about them...? Are we just gonna leave all of them here?"

"We don't have any choice in the matter." Kakashi said blankly, throwing a glance at the occupants of the cells. Most of them were completely oblivious to their presence, seemingly shell-shocked. A few watched them, but it was not out of curiosity or hope, but _fear_. They were, in a word, broken. As terrible as it sounded, Kakashi doubted that even _if_ they saved them they would be able to do readjust to a _normal_ life ever again. "Our own survival is more important than saving them."

"But that's wrong!" Naruto yelled. "No one deserves to be a slave! We should _help them_!"

"And die in the process?" Kakashi asked sharply. "I understand your desire to save them, I _really do_, but we're _not in our world anymore_." Kakashi accentuated that point sharply. "Our priority right now is our own safety, and getting back home. Both of which will be at risk if we tried to save them."

"B-but..." Naruto was losing his vigor, and was struggling for words, "why can't we take them with us, then...?"

"And force them into an unknown world that isn't their own?" Naruto winced, looking down. "No, our only choice is to leave them here, as awful as that is."

Naruto didn't protest, simply hanging his head and visibly struggling to come to terms with the idea. It was only when his clones said, "We can't hold this much longer, boss!" that he stilled. Looking up at Kakashi with his face set, he said, "Alright."

Kakashi nodded his head at the genin, ignoring his feelings of guilt at forcing his student to go against his convictions, but they really couldn't risk trying to save them. Besides, they were strangers of this world, and he'd rather not stick his nose in business that had nothing to do with him.

"How do you use the technique?" Kakashi asked Naruto, who scratched his head.

"Uh, you gotta draw what was on the scroll, then do a bunch of hand seals." Naruto said. "I drew the seal in the dirt under my tent and it worked, but, uh..." he looked at the ground, where there was nothing but a puddle of blood from the three dead Legion soldiers.

"Do you remember how to draw it?" Kakashi asked, to which Naruto nodded. Handing the boy his brush, Kakashi watched as Naruto began to draw. It was fairly clumsy, and there was no finesse in the way he wrote the characters, but Kakashi marveled at the fact Naruto seemed to remember how to draw it perfectly. Considering the blond seemed to have issues with remember the hand seals for the _Transformation technique_, it was a wonder – and a mystery – how he manged to remember the rather intricate seal with such clarity.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi was drawn from watching and wondering about his surprising student to look at the two clones of his student. "They broke the door! I don't think we can keep them out!"

Kakashi cursed lightly, bringing his hands together to form several seals. Inhaling sharply, Kakashi pulled his mask down to his chin, spraying a stream of mud at the doorway. The clones shouted in alarm, poofing out of existence upon contact with the chakra mud, and the continued onward to break the table in half, slathering the doorway – and a couple of the Legion guards by the sound of it – completely. In the liquid After stopping the flow from his mouth, the mud started to dry, solidifying as a decent barrier.

"That should do it." Kakashi said as he slipped his mask back in its rightful place. "But it'd be best if you moved quickly, Naruto. It won't hold forever."

"Right. I'm almost done." Naruto said, and he wasn't lying. The seal on the ground was fairly large and intricate, and half of the seals Kakashi couldn't even recognize from his studies in Sealing Techniques... "Okay!" Naruto said, grinning slightly as he finished it off. "Done!"

"Good job." Kakashi said, taking his brush from the boy and shoving it roughly into one of his pouches. "What's next?"

"I just gotta do some hand seals, then put my hand in the center." Naruto said, and he started to go through the hand seals when Kakashi stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Before you do," he said, and leaned closer to the boy's ear, "try to use less chakra this time." Naruto gave him a confused expression, but nodded regardless. "Sakura, Sasuke," Kakashi said, drawing their attention, "stand in the circle. I'm not sure the exact radius of this thing, but it's best if we stick close to Naruto and the seal."

After all four of them were in place, Naruto went through a set of hand seals – _sixteen_ by Kakashi's count – without so much as a pause or hitch. Once again, he was taken aback by his student's apparent memorization of the technique. His surprise was short lived when the blond placed his hand in the center of the seal, a bright white light rising from the seal. It completely enveloped them, the white light flooding their entire vision.

Then, after that, all they saw was darkness.

* * *

_ A/N: And they're outta there! Or are they? They are. But where will they end up? Who's to say. You'll find out next week. _

_ The first world was, overall, relatively short, but I didn't want to stay in the Fallout series too long. I was mainly using it as an introduction of sorts for the story, since I could more freely create a scenario due to the series' sandboxishness. I think it worked out relatively well. The next world will be... interesting, I'll say._

_ There's one world I really want to start writing, but it's a decent distance into the story, so I'm having to restrain myself from focusing too much on it. Got worlds I have to finish up, still._

_Also, fanfiction was being dumb today, so a slightly late update.  
_

_ Until next time. Ja ne._


	5. W2, C1: Mushrooms

_Chapter Title: __Mushrooms_

_Words:_ 4911

_Series:_ Naruto, ?

* * *

Rain... it was _raining_ when he awoke on the soft, moist ground. He was lying face up, staring at the darkened sky as it poured large amounts of water from the heavens. His mask was soaked with water, and with every breath he took, he invariably inhaled some of it, but not enough to be an actual bother. Misfiring a water technique from the mouth was undoubtedly much worse than breathing in tiny droplets of water through his mask.

Rolling over onto his side, Kakashi immediately saw what appeared to be a massive _mushroom _that looked more like a tree than a fungus. More important than the mushroom tree, he saw a surprisingly dry patch of grass and dirt underneath its cup, as if mocking him with its protection from the rain that he was not getting.

Sitting up, Kakashi supposed that this 'Interdimensional Travel' thing wasn't as bad as he originally assumed. There was no pain or exhaustion this time around, leading him to believe it had only been the 'first' travel being a pain, or he had hit his head on something hard. One of the two. Possibly a side effect of Naruto unintentionally drawing out the Kyuubi's chakra when the last time he hadn't. A tailed beast's chakra was something painful to human's, after all. Either way, it was a good thing he wasn't hurting. In his experience, Seals and anything of the sort that resulted in _pain _was something better off not being messed with. It usually wasn't good for one's health, which was funny since interdimensional travel seemed like it'd be a greater risk than anything else.

Then again, Kakashi wasn't a sealing master, so what did he know?

Glancing around, Kakashi found his three genin lying in the grass just as he had been. A small consolation of not being under the tree was the fact that they did not land in the mud not ten meters to their right. Nor did they land in the river west of them, barely thirty meters away. Kakashi supposed whatever cosmic entity was out there was merciful in some capacity. Cosmically small, to be sure, but any mercy was appreciated in their current situation.

Especially after the last travel. There were no monstrous creatures waiting to snack on their immobile bodies. Always a good sign when one woke up. Standing upright, Kakashi moved from genin to genin, awakening them with light shakes, stopping briefly at Sakura and Sasuke to check them for any injuries that they may have obtained from their capture, and was thankful to find nothing. They all roused from their sleep quickly enough, Naruto being the first to sit up. After a moment of disorientation, and wiping the sleep and rain from his eyes, Naruto glanced around.

"Did it work?" He asked curiously, suppressing a yawn with great effort. He failed at supressing it a moment later, letting it out loudly.

"I would say so." Kakashi answered, the grass and rain a sharp contrast to the dry desert they had previously been in. Though a grassland, this place was somewhat unique compared to most that Kakashi knew. In the distant east were mountains of sorts, their color almost ashen, the rain doing little to obscure it. More nearby, however, were more of the tree like mushrooms, standing taller than some of the trees that littered the riverbank. "Is everyone alright?"

While Sasuke merely let out a grunt as he was wont to do, Sakura said, "I'm okay..." she mumbled wearily, sitting upright. "Bit... overwhelmed, but I'm doing better now that we're out of that place..."

Kakashi nodded his head at the girl, breathing a slight sigh of relief. Of all his genin, he was easily most worried about her. Still, she was proving that she was stronger than one would think if she could get through this without losing her mind.

"Still.. where are we _now_?" Sakura asked wearily, grimacing from the rain pattering down from the skies. Though she tried to shield herself from the torrent of water, by now it was far too late to do such a thing. She was soaked to the bone. With a sigh, she dropped her hands to her lap, looking up at the sky with indifferent eyes. Shaking her head, she said, "...at least this is a relief after a desert..."

"Quite true, though I could have done without getting soaked to the bone." Kakashi admitted, throwing a glance to his quietest student.

Unlike the other two Genin who were largely indifferent or relatively at peace with the situation, Sasuke did not look at all pleased in the slightest. There was nothing but contempt and irritation in his eyes and face. Kakashi was not surprised by that, realizing that of all of them, he was the one most directly affected by this Interdimensional Travel... at least at the moment. Eventually, he suspected Sakura would begin to miss her home and parents, but at the moment Sasuke had one thought in his mind.

Power.

After all, Sasuke's life goal was to gain the strength, to gain the power to get revenge on his clan's killer. With it now seemingly thrown off course, with no signs of getting back on it, Sasuke was angry. Justifiably so, albeit it for reasons that he was likely not feeling angry over. No doubt he was most angry over the notion of being captured by non-ninja, feeling all the more weak and powerless to stop Itachi. 'He'd never have gotten caught', 'He could have escaped that situation' were likely what he was thinking at the moment. The fact he could not be back in Konoha training to get stronger meant he'd only get further and further from his goal, with the addition of being in an entirely different world than his target of vengeance... it just piled up and was making the boy angry at everything.

Kakashi himself was angry at their predicament, but there was no point in actually letting those emotions run wild. It's not as if he did not play a part in their current predicament. '_If only __I__ had confiscated the scroll immediately_', or '_if only I had stopped their stupid bet earlier_' were all good thoughts in retrospect, but there was nothing to do about it now. All they could do was research the sealing scroll and _hope_ they could find a way to deconstruct it and get back to _their_ world.

"Oh, cool!" Naruto cooed, causing Kakashi to look his way. "Some of the guns came along with us!"

Indeed, much like the camp had been in their first travel, the weapons of the previous world were scattered about on the ground. Kakashi swiftly scooped them up before Naruto could make his move, saying, "It's dangerous to mess with technology we don't fully understand, Naruto," reaching into his pack, Kakashi procured one of the scrolls with a collar in it, unfurling it, "for the time being, I'll be keeping a handle on these." With that, he sealed the guns into the storage scroll along with the collar, quickly shoving it into his pack.

Naruto deflated a bit, nodding his head. "Okay..." He glanced around the area, and finally perked up a bit when he spotted something through the mist of rain. Pointing to something in the distance, he said, "Hey, there's a bridge over there!"

"That's just _wonderful_." Sasuke said sarcastically, practically spitting each word out. "Who'd ever expect a bridge around a _river_?"

Naruto made a face, looking ready to retort when Kakashi broke the argument up before it could ever start. "Now, now," he started, his tone placating, "I understand that we're all uptight over our current predicament, but that's no reason to be so snide with one another. We're all teammates here, and we need to work _together_ to get out of this mess. Understood?"

Sasuke grumbled something under his breath that Kakashi couldn't quite catch, but he nodded his head all the same. Naruto crossed his arms, sticking his lower lip out. "Fine..." he muttered, pouting at nothing in particular. Kakashi felt mild amusement tug at his lips, but refrained from actually smiling. Instead, he focused on the bridge.

"For now, we should focus on finding some proper shelter. We don't want to get sick in this rain, now, do we?" Kakashi asked with a smile. Sakura nodded vehemently, while the other two just grumbled. "Come on, let's move."

They headed to the bridge Naruto had spotted, crossing over the wooden bridge one at a time. Though seemingly sturdy for a rope bridge, there was no guarantee it'd hold up under their weight or the heavy winds of the current storm, and they didn't need to chance all of them falling into the river below. "Hmm..." Naruto squinted through the rain after they had all made it over to the other side. "Isn't that a door over there in the rocks?"

Kakashi glanced in the direction he was pointing, and indeed there was a door at the base of a large hill, surrounded by some large rocks as support.. From the looks of it, it was a cave, and a man-made one at that. Tentatively, he led his genin to the door, testing the handle.

Locked. It did not surprise him much. "Looks like our fortune ran out, just a bit." Kakashi said. "It's locked, and I don't particularly want to break in."  
"Why not?" Naruto asked, scrunching up his face.

"We're in an unknown place, likely with an unknown group of people. There's no need to give a bad first impression on the off chance they're friendly." Kakashi explained. "It'd be nice if we could avoid having an encounter like the last world, you know."

"It might happen anyways." Sasuke muttered darkly, his hands shoved in his pockets. Kakashi wouldn't deny the possibility, but he hoped they had ended up in a slightly more... friendly place.

"Well, we can only hope it doesn't. Still, it can't hurt to be prepared for the worst, so make sure to keep an eye out." Kakashi said, ushering his genin north where there was a small dirt path alongside the river. Kakashi hoped it led to some sort of civilization, and a civilization that _didn't_ want to enslave them. Preferably a civilization that would, at the very least, allow them inside and allow them some time and respite to recover from their recent fiasco.

They took a turn around the hill wherein they found a large wall that was made of what appeared to be a pale yellow clay, with what looked to be a city lying beyond the walls. However, the sight of a city was not the most eye catching thing they saw when they rouned the corner. No. It was a bug that stood to the right of the archway that led into the city. This was no ordinary bug. This was a _massive _bug, standing four, five, maybe even _six_ stories high on six long, spindly stilt like legs. Two additional appendages came from what they assumed to be the front of it, bent in two places with spikes on the end. The main body was housed by some sort of giant shell, its shape looking akin to some sort of snail or crab.

It was... not what any of them were expecting. They had no clue what the thing was, or even what exactly it was doing there. It was simply standing right in front of the wall, only swaying slightly from the wind that buffeted it. "What... is that...?" Sakura asked in a small, fearful voice; she was afraid it'd start moving, if she were louder.

"I'm... not sure." Kakashi certainly hadn't seen anything like it in his time. It wasn't even like a normal bug grown to insane proportions. It was some sort of entirely different bug. "But... I have a feeling it's not going to harm us. Let's just keep going."

"It's kinda gross..." Naruto muttered, staring up at it as they passed it by. On the underside, ge could see a large mouth at its front, where the claws were, and it appeared to have numerous teeth surrounding it. He had to look away, because that many teeth just wasn't natural. "Ugh... is it a bug? I hate bugs."

"It's hard to say, but as long as it isn't hostile, I don't think we should dwell on it." Kakashi said as they came to the archway, finally getting a good look at the city beyond the walls. It was not a large city by any means, and it was just a small step up from being labeled a town, but it was a city nonetheless. It was completely silent in the rain, but held an oddly quaint feeling to it despite that.

A slight chill, however, ran down Kakashi's spine as they stepped into the city proper. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but... something about this place felt _wrong _now that he had entered it proper. As though there was some indescribable force of nature lurking underneath the ground that he couldn't see or hear, only _feel_. It didn't sit well with him, and in all honesty he considered leaving then and there.

A large bolt of lightning lit up the sky, its form large and striking the earth not a kilometer away. The sound of thunder was instantaneous, and its loud rumble lasted for several long seconds.

Staying out in the open rain wouldn't bother Kakashi much, but the risk of being struck by lightning was always a real possibility, and he doubted his genin – who were not of the Lightning element – would appreciate getting struck by one. Regardless of his gut feeling, he decided they'd say.

"Outsiders..." a rough, tired voice said, and Kakashi tensed as he turned his head to the voice, only to find something he was not expecting. A reptilian creature - akin to that of a lizard - stood on two legs and was wearing ragged, soaked clothes. Its scales were a pale, glossy green, its eyes slitted and brown, and fins were coming out of the back sides of its head. On its back was a large pack that seemed stuffed to the brim. The creature was looking at the four with intense consideration. Kakashi's hand reflexively clamped over Naruto's mouth, hushing the boy before he could even open his mouth. Whatever it was he wanted to say, Kakashi felt it'd come across as an insult. "You should leave while you still can, outsiders. The Nine have _forsaken_ this wretched place."

The Nine? Was that some sort of religious thing? Kakashi couldn't be sure, but from the way he said it, it evoked the image of nine gods for whatever reason. Still, the fact the lizard was not perturbed by their appearance at least meant there were _humans _around, not just lizard people. "Thank you for the warning," Kakashi said diplomatically, hoping he could possibly weasel some information out of the creature, "but we just want shelter from the rain. Is that too much to ask?"

"The rain...?" the lizard creature, of which Kakashi was unsure if it was male or female, whispered in a raspy tone, "_s__he_ is the cause of the rain. It will not let up. If you stay for shelter, you will only find yourself staying forever."

Kakashi blinked slowly, wrapping his head around that. Was is saying the rain was artificial, and that it was being created and controlled by someone? It wouldn't be the first time he had heard of that. There were long standing rumors that the village of Rain's constant storm was artificially controlled by Hanzo to ensure he was always at his peak of strength while on his own turf. "Who is causing the rain?"

The lizard's eyes widened marginally, and it looked around in a panic. "To utter their name... it'd be folly! I'd be damned, _damned _to the nightmares!" The lizard hissed out, eying its surroundings carefully. Then, it abruptly turned away from them. "Leave, outsiders, leave while you still can! If you do not, you too will be damned!" Then, with that finished, the lizard hobbled off out of the town, quite obviously limping.

Left with the silence of rain, Kakashi would be the first to admit that wasn't what he had been expecting when they first entered this place. It was actually _better_ than what he feared, but nowhere near what he was hoping for. "Mmmmahhmma!" Naruto mumbled into Kakashi's hand, prompting him to remove it. "Bleh! Pfft! Gross!" Naruto spat, opening his mouth skyward to let the rain fall in. "You got mud on your hands, sensei!"

"Ah, sorry." Kakashi said lightly. "If you were able to keep your mouth in check, I wouldn't have had to do that."

"I wasn't going to say anything _bad_!" Naruto protested.

Sakura rolled her eyes at that. "You were going to call it a lizard, weren't you?"

"I wasn't!" Naruto said as he made a face – one both defiant and guilty at the same time.

Kakashi chuckled lightly, saying, "It's better to not say something that might unintentionally insult those we don't know, Naruto. We don't need to agitate the ones who are actually willing to talk with us." Naruto nodded, trying not to sulk.

"Do you know what it meant, sensei?" Sakura asked, tilting her head up at him. "Is it saying we'll be damned if we stay here? By what? I don't really get it..."

"Neither do I." Kakashi admitted. "It seemed to be warning us of nightmares, but frankly I'm not sure if they were in a proper state of mind." He knew some cues for crazy, and the wild, panicked eyes were pretty crazy.

"Who cares?" Sasuke let out a grunt, glaring at nothing in particular. "Can we just get out of this damn rain?"

Kakashi nodded, taking a quick glance around. There were some buildings with awnings about, but Kakashi doubted anyone would be happy to have four strangers standing underneath one them... no, what they needed were directions. The question was _where_ would they get directions? Was one of the buildings a store by any chance? There was something akin to a sign on the building directly in front of the entrance to the place, but it didn't explain much. It had a picture of a beetle on it, with small text underneath it. However, he couldn't read one bit of whatever was on it. Strange, considering he was able to communicate with the lizard without a problem.

Which raised the question as to how they could understand these other dimension's speech, but not their text. It was a curious thing, and Kakashi wondered if the Seal that transported them somehow imprinted a seal that automatically translated other languages... but that'd also require it to translate what they were saying. It was something of a mystery, one that he could hopefully solve by looking at the sealing scroll.

Still, that could wait for another time. They had more pressing matters. Kakashi decided to forgo extreme caution, heading towards the first building past the archway and tried the door. His reasoning was simple – the sign in front of the building meant it was either naming the building as something, or advertising it. Houses rarely had _signs_ in front of them, leading him to believe it was a store or bar of sorts.

Thankfully, the door opened without a hitch. Almost immediately, they heard a variety of voices pour out from within, a soft song accompanying them. Tentatively, Kakashi entered, finding that it wasn't a house but an actual restaurant and bar of sorts. Possibly even an inn. Good, just what they needed. Bars were the prime source of information of new places, and if it were an inn, they'd get some place to rest.

One small problem was the three genin that followed in along behind him, as most bars didn't allow kids inside unless they could provide adequate proof they were ninja. Outside a few establishments, they wouldn't even sell alcoholic beverages to those that could prove they were ninja, either. If this place didn't _have_ ninja, letting kids wander into a bar could be problematic...

They'd have to risk it anyways. Leading them inside, Kakashi glanced around. It was a small, quaint establishment, with more tables and stools than patrons, but still a sizable amount of people. One of those lizard people stood on a small stage, strumming a lute with its claws, while several humans of various colors – white, black, _gold_ – sat at the various tables eating or drinking. A man stood behind the counter, apparently shaking a drink in a bottle. When he noticed them, the man smiled and set the bottle down.

"Ah, welcome to the Lucky Lockup! Can't say I've seen you in town before. Visitors to Balmora?"

"Travelers." Kakashi said, so that it wouldn't be a lie. At the very least, he got a _name_ to the city.

"Of course. Wanted out of the rain, I presume? Bad omen, that." The man said. "Balmora's climate has always been a bit more rainy than anywhere else here on Vvardenfell, but it hasn't let up in the past month. Very unnatural. We've not been getting as many visitors to these parts because of it, and the river is rising with every day. Parts of the city itself have been flooded, and there's no signs of the rain stopping any time soon. Even the wizards are unsure of what's causing so much rain, and if it keeps up the entire city will have to abandon its streets."

"No casualties, I hope?"

"None so far, thank the Nine-" the 'Nine' again, "but property damage is worse than the Oblivion Crisis four years ago. Bad business. Bad business indeed." The man shook his head. "But enough about these morbid tales, friend! I am Benunius Agrudilius, proprietor here at the Lucky Lockup. Since Balmora is in such a rut at the moment, I can't in good conscience charge for service here. Anything you need, be it food, bath or beds, I'm willing to supply."

Kakashi was suspicious now – what sort of business would hand over all that for free, even in this sort of condition? - but nodded regardless. They certainly didn't have any money – or at least money that would _work _in a foreign world – on them, and free room and board was _perfect_. "That's very considerate of you, sir. Thank you very much."

"Not at all, not at all." Benunius waved it off with cheer in his voice. "I'm considering giving up this establishment soon enough. Maybe move back in with family in the Imperial City. With the loss of Vivec, Vvardenfell has been seeing a massive decline in trade these days. It's getting harder and harder to maintain a business here." Kakashi didn't know what those words were, but nodded in understanding all the same. Best to pretend he did, so as to not make him suspicious. "Oh dear, I hope this talk hasn't put you off to staying here. I promise to give the best service I can provide, and it's better than any other establishment in town!"

"Well... do you have anything we can change into?" Kakashi asked, to which Benunius nodded.

"Yes, of course." He rummaged around behind the counter, pulling a single key, old and rusted, from underneath. "Here you are. The first room up the stairs on the left. Two nice, warm beds, and it'll have a few change of clothes for you to wear in the mean time."

"Thank you very much." Kakashi said, accepting the key and turning around. As it turned out, his genin(rather, Naruto and Sakura) were near one of the tables with several patrons, and they had unusual expressions on their faces. Once they noticed Kakashi was finished, they walked over to him. "Something the matter?" Kakashi asked in a hushed tone.

"The people here are weird." Naruto said in a hushed tone, but considerably louder than Kakashi. "They keep talking about the same stuff."

"And they all responded with the same thing when we asked them about the reptile person and the 'nightmares'." Sakura added. "Everything we asked, they'd just go 'Oh? What's that?', and even when we expounded on it, they just kept repeating it. All of them did it, too. It's like..." she struggled for the right word, finally sighing and settling on, "well, it's like they're following a script or something."

"Yeah, and they seemed to just want to talk about 'mudcrabs' or whatever. I don't even know what those are!" Naruto grunted, crossing his arms. "Did you have more luck, sensei?"

"A bit." Kakashi lightly said. "I was offered free room and board."

"Really?" Sakura asked, shocked. "Why?"

"The weather, apparently. It's causing trade to dwindle around these parts."

Sakura looked downright confused. "That doesn't make sense economically. Rather than free room and board, he should be raising his prices since he isn't getting enough business!"

"True enough, but he's claiming he's going to leave here soon. Whatever the case, we need shelter right now, and we're being offered it."

"What if it's a trap?" Naruto asked.

"We'll just need to keep our eyes open." Kakashi said, ushering the two rightfully suspicious genin up the stairs, while gesturing Sasuke over. Once they were up stairs, Kakashi picked out the stated door and unlocked it.

Beyond the door was a relatively small room with two beds and two dressers, one of which had a mirror attached to it. Beyond that, there was a small wash basin sitting on the dresser with the mirror, and a cleaned chamber pot sitting next to the dresser. Sakura blanched upon seeing it.

Naruto, on the other hand, was looking around the room, squinting at the walls. "Where's the bathroom?" He was looking for an additional door that he would not find.

Sakura tried to answer, but she was unable to form words. Kakashi supposed she understood what the pot was for, which was somewhat surprising – they were an obsolete design that never came up in their day and age, after all. "That's the bathroom." Kakashi pointed to the chamber pot, causing Naruto to stare at it in confusion.

"But, Kakashi-sensei... that's a pot."

"Yes, it is." Kakashi said agreeably, smiling as he did. "And it's the toilet."

"But... it's a pot." Naruto couldn't wrap his head around the idea that a toilet could not be a porcelain device with a flusher attached to it.

"There weren't always toilets that were connected to a sewage system, you know." Kakashi said with a wide grin. "Before they were invented, people used pots to go to the bathroom."

Naruto's face split into a horrified expression, and he let out an indignant squawk. "We have to go to the bathroom in a pot!?"

"Unfortunately." Kakashi said, perhaps a bit too cheerfully for his genin. "Now, let's see here..." Kakashi pulled his backpack off, setting it on the floor as he opened one drawers of the dresser. There were some clothes inside, albeit somewhat old and worn. "A size bit too small for me, and several sizes too big for you all... they'll do until our clothes can dry, at least."

Sasuke let out a grunt, snatching a pair of clothes from the dresser and immediately began to strip. Sakura let out a squeak, covering her eyes while leaving a substantial gap between her fingers in the process. Kakashi just shook his head, ushering the other two out of the room to let him change in private. They repeated the process a few times, until everyone was changed, and then Kakashi draped the clothes on the two dressers to dry.

It was about that time that the past day's fatigue started to set in for the genin. Kakashi could feel it too, but it wasn't enough to deter him. "You three should sleep. It's been an eventful day for you all. Get some rest."

Sasuke had seemed to have already decided on doing just that, taking one of the beds without a second thought. Sakura hopped into the other quickly, before Naruto could register what was said. When the blond finally realized he was too slow, he cursed. "Crap..." There was room on the beds for a second person, especially one as small as Naruto, but there was no way he was sleeping on the same bed as Sasuke. No way in _hell_! Sakura wasn't even an option when she punched him for so much as asking her out on a date. He'd probably be _castrated_ for trying to sleep in the same bed as her.

Turning to Kakashi for answers, he only got a smile. "How unfortunate!" Kakashi said to Naruto without a hint of pity in his voice. Naruto glared at the man, grumbling curses under his breath. Grabbing some spare clothes from the dressers, he made a makeshift padding on the ground and laid on it, using a robe as a blanket.

With a heavy sigh, Kakashi took a seat at the far side of the room, deciding he'd keep watch in case there really was a trap waiting to be sprung. Idly, he watched his genin, keeping his other senses focused on everything else. With some mild amusement, Kakashi noted that it was Naruto who fell asleep first.

* * *

_ A/N: For those who know, yes, this is the Elder Scrolls. I know, I know. I went from a crossover with Fallout straight into a crossover with Elder Scrolls, two series by the same developer. There's a reason for it all, I promise! I had a good idea(or at least, what felt like a good idea at the time!) and ran with it. It sets up stuff in the next world, so bear with me. Besides, Fallout was originally an Interplay/Black Isle Studios game, rather than Bethesda game. They're not that closely related, honest!_

_ If the last world was an introduction, this world is a set up world. Without getting too deep into anything, it basically sets up Team 7's character development. Lots of stuff happens, and there are some fairly "out there" ideas, but it features one of my favorite aspects of the Elder Scrolls... and some of you who know the lore enough might be able to guess where I'm going with the story of the world based on some stuff in this chapter._

_ The place they ended up in is Balmora in Vvardenfell, which is part of Morrowind, and was featured in the Elders Scrolls: Morrowind. The humanoid lizard is an Argonian, and Benunius is a character in Morrowind, albeit a minor one.  
_

_ Until next time. Ja ne._


	6. W2, C2: Missing

_Chapter Title: __M__issing_

_Words:_ 6213

_Series:_ Naruto, Elder Scrolls

* * *

Although he really should, Kakashi didn't feel the least bit tired as he sat there watching his sleeping genin. Eventually, their exhaustion had set in, and Sasuke and Sakura both drifted off into sleep as Naruto had... but Kakashi didn't feel any such feelings of fatigue. He hadn't had a proper sleep in some time, but whatever had sent him into unconsciousness between using the technique and waking up, it had at least given him _some _respite. Enough that it was comparable to his usual couple hours of light sleep. It was a good thing, too, as he wasn't sure if this place was really _safe,_ all things considered. There was something strange going on here, and he needed to be sure it wasn't going to bite them to remain.

Still, there was one thing that needed some attending to... food. His stomach was feeling a bit empty, and though he had some rations on hand, he decided to see if the offer of 'free food' was any good. Creating two clones to watch over his genin(two so that one could dispel the moment something happened and inform him of what was going on, while still leaving the other to stay behind), Kakashi rose to a stand and left the room silently.

As he made his way downstairs, he noticed that the same people that had been there about three hours ago were still there, drinking and talking and playing their music as they had been those three hours before. It was odd to see, but Kakashi wasn't entirely sure what time of day it was with the storm out. It had been nearly dark as night, coupled with the fact they jumped in the middle of night, leading him to believe it was getting late, but perhaps it was still day? Morning? Or, perhaps, these people simply didn't want to leave?

Regardless, Kakashi headed over to the bar where Benunius was cleaning some glasses. Taking a seat, the man looked up, smiling as he did. "Come down for a drink, sir?"

"I'd prefer some food, but a drink wouldn't hurt." Kakashi said, shifting to get comfortable.

"Coming right up, then! I'm afraid I don't have much in stock beyond some bread and cheese, but it's fresh!"

"It'll do, thank you." Bread and cheese was more than good enough compared to the tasteless emergency rations he had in his pack. It was practically gourmet in comparison.

As Benunius began rummaging around the cupboards behind the bar, Kakashi threw a few glances around the bar, particularly its people. They seemed relatively normal, and not out of place, but... Kakashi couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Here you go, sir! One relatively fresh slice of bread, and a wedge of cheese!" A table was set in front of Kakashi, and he turned his head back. Looking at the food offered, he was pleased to see it looked very edible, and – after slipping his mask down – he took a bite of the bread. It was good tasting, too, which gave it a massive edge over the emergency rations. "So, what brings you to Balmora, friend?"

"This or that." Kakashi said lightly, not trying to be evasive, but not trying to be upfront about it. "Just... wandering, with no real idea where we're going."  
"Ah, wanderlust, is it? I know her call!" Benunius grinned, shaking his head. "Bit of a bad time to come to Balmora, friend! It was a nice place, once upon a time."

"I'm sure it was. Would have been nice to see it, then." Kakashi said neutrally.

"You from Vvardenfell, friend?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. You don't have the look about you-" Benunius shook his head, "no offense intended, of course! You simply lack the pale complexion that the residual ash from the Mountains tend to give."

"Aren't I pretty pale?" Kakashi asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Oh, for certain, friend, but not quite the _ashen_ look I'm speaking of." Benunius shrugged. "Men grown and raised here to be a pale lot. They look quite sick, in fact, but they're as healthy and hardy as any. Good thing, too!"

Kakashi nodded his head lightly, enjoying the calming music being played by a human and one of those lizard creatures, while taking a bite of bread and cheese. "Say, on our way in here..." Kakashi started, looking pointedly at Benunius, "we encountered someone who spoke of 'nightmares', and that this place is cursed. Know anything of it?"

"Ah, that? Bit of an odd one, that Argonian. Likes to ramble and speak of things that don't actually exist." Benunius said with a dismissive wave, and Kakashi nodded his head. However, he considered it odd. If that were true, why then didn't everyone else say that about the 'Argonian' as he called it? Why were Sakura and Naruto met with such odd, repeating statements if Benunius answered so easily? Very strange. "I wouldn't pay him much mind."

"Alright, I'll try not to." Kakashi said, though that was very much a lie. Rather sedately, he continued to eat the food given to him in the peace of the soft music being played.

"So, from what far off land do you hail, friend?" Benunius asked, grabbing a clay cup and pouring some sort of drink into it.

"Here or there." Kakashi answered loosely. "I don't really have a home." Which was both a lie and truth at the same time. Kakashi's home was Konoha, but he had no place he called home in the village. Just an apartment that he would sleep in, really.

"Ah, what a vague answer you've given me." Benunius hummed, setting the cup down in front of Kakashi. "You've got a particular evasiveness to you, don't you? Not a particularly trusting fellow, are you?"

Kakashi shrugged tensely at the sudden shift in Benunius' tone. Rather than take a sip of the beverage Benunius just set down in front of him, Kakashi stopped eating entirely, watching the other man carefully, not once letting his guard down.

"But I suppose I don't need to hear your answer to those questions straight from your mouth." Benunius said cheerfully, smirking as he did. "I can take the answer from you as easily as you lie." Kakashi slowed, his attention sharpening to a point on Benunius. "Actually, it could be even easier than you lie..."

With years of trained grace, Kakashi had a kunai out and pointing at Benunius' neck. It was not a consciously made decision, but a purely reflexive one, born out of a sudden, indescribable fear in the deepest recesses of his mind. "Who are you?"

"I believe I asked the question first, broad as it were." Benunius said with a smile. "Then again, people hardly listen to what others say. What they truly say, at least. They listen just enough to follow a conversation and nothing else. But that's a matter of digression, isn't it?"

Throughout the spiel, Benunius' speech shifted in tone and pitch constantly, creating a distorted warbling effect. Kakashi was unsure how to describe it, but it was not natural. "I was curious about you four since the moment you walked into Balmora. I can't seem to approach you in your dreams; it's as if your dreams are from another plane of existence.." Benunius' said, his – its – voice still shifting. "Thus I decided to approach you in the waking world and find out what you are. But speaking with you mortals is such an _unpleasant_ experience, and you never answer how I want you to answer."

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock as he felt his body go numb, the kunai falling out of his hand. A shadow had wrapped itself around his arms and legs without him knowing, binding his limbs on the spot in a way similar to a Nara's technique. "Wha..." he ground out, trying to fight against the shadows with all his might, but it was as if his body had ceased to exist. Any attempt to move seemed lost to his body, and he was moving only at the Shadow's command, as if he were a puppet. It was stronger than any Nara technique, and soon the shadow was growing and wrapping itself entirely around Kakashi, smothering him underneath.

"It's not a terrible ordeal for me, however. I can just learn what I want from you as easily as you can lie." Benunius reached out, his body seeming to melt away with shadows. "Sleep well, and have _pleasant_ dreams. I give you my word that I won't touch the children." Then Benunius' face split into a thin smile. "Well... _not yet_."

Everything went dark, and all Kakashi heard was a high pitched, melodic laughter as he felt his consciousness fade. The last memory he had was receiving his clueless shadow clone's memories regarding the sleeping genin before he fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start, a crash of thunder breaking the relative silence he had become accustomed to whilst sleeping. In his disorientation, he sat up and looked around in a panic, wondering if someone had thrown a rock through his window again. The last time that had happened, the rock had nearly messed up his favorite kettle(his only kettle, for that matter) that he had left on the table near his window. No way did he want a repeat of that and have his kettle _break_! Then he wouldn't be able to make himself instant ramen anymore!

When his vision and mind cleared, he realized he was not actually in his apartment, let alone a room with a window. He was in a fairly cramped room with silly drapes hanging on the walls(they didn't cover windows, what were they there for?!) and an uncomfortably hard floor that only had rolled up clothes as comfort. That's right, a dawning realization coming over him. Not only was he not at his apartment, he wasn't even _in his own home world_. Scratching his head at this sudden re-revelation, Naruto squinted as he examined the beds he was _not_ sleeping on. Sasuke and Sakura were on them, and he couldn't help but feel jealous that Sasuke got a bed and he didn't. The jerk had stolen it right from under him, the bastard!

Shaking his head, Naruto laid back down only to sit right up a minute later. The rain pattering against the roof made him realize something. He needed to pee.

Really, _really_ badly.

It was then he remembered the unfortunate problem of this world. They had no toilets, only pots and pans that you did your business in. The thought alone made Naruto shudder. No way he was gonna take a leak in a shiny pot that other people also probably pooped and peed into. Especially not when it was in the same room as Sasuke and Sakura! _No way_! He'd sooner _die_ than do _that_!

Once again glancing around, Naruto noted that Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. A bit odd, he thought, but not alarming. It wouldn't surprise him if Kakashi had headed downstairs to get some of that free food the bartender guy offered. Even if he was creepy, free food was free food. Naruto knew to not turn those kinds of offers down! ...unless it was poisoned or rotten. Naruto somewhat doubted that, as even the nastiest of street vendors never stooped to giving him stuff like that. Though sometimes the free food he got when he was younger was really spicy or salty or sour, and some of them _really_ burnt coming out, but hey! It was _free_!

Standing up and keeping his legs tight, Naruto crept to the door and snuck out of the room. There was that river nearby, so Naruto would just go in there. Yeah, he'd get wet again, but it was no big deal. There was that one time he got paint all over himself after a prank, and ran so fast and hard that he ended up falling asleep with it all over himself once he had gotten home, so sleeping while wet didn't bother him too much.

Heading downstairs, Naruto didn't notice immediately that there was no one around, not even the bartender. In his half-asleep, bathroom needing state, he continued not registering it even as he left the building into the pitch black night. Self-preservation kicked in, then, and he decided to avoid the raging river that thrashed about from the rain and wind. Instead, he stayed under the relative safety of the awning and found a corner inside it to relieve himself.

Aaah...

Once done, and once he had shaken it out, Naruto pulled his pants back up proper, throwing his hands under the rain and wantonly rubbing them together. Say what you will about his general lack of tact, he _did_ understand hygiene.

If only a little bit. Most of the time he didn't use soap, and he only 'washed' because Iruka-sensei always got mad at him when he'd use the bathroom and immediately leave without washing. It became something of a habit after that.

Once he wiped his hands off on the pants, he headed back inside. Almost immediately, he noticed something off. There was no one around. It wasn't the lack of patrons that set him off – it seemed like it was nighttime, so people probably wouldn't be at a bar this late at night – but rather it was the fact Kakashi and the bartender guy weren't around, yet the entire place was still lit with candles and lanterns.

Conspiratorially, Naruto checked the entire first floor for anyone, but found absolutely no sign of life. There was a sign that _someone _had been around, as there was a plate of bread and cheese on the bar that was half-eaten. Frowning, Naruto brought his hands together to form the seal for the Kage Bunshin and created two clones. To them, he said, "Keep checking the first floor, look for anything like hidden trap doors and stuff. I'm gonna wake Sakura-chan and Sasuke!"

"Got it, boss!" The clones saluted, heading off to do as asked. Naruto ran up the stairs, briefly stopping to look at the other three doors in the hallway. Nervously, he tried opening them, but found they were locked still. Making a mental note of that fact, Naruto nodded his head once and headed back into 'their' room.

"Guys!" He called, somewhat quietly so as not to startle them awake. "Guys...!" It was the second call that resulted in Sasuke stirring, finally rolling over on the bed to look at him, eyes open and spelling pure murder.

"What." He deadpanned, no humor in his voice. Upon him saying that, Sakura stirred in her own bed.

"Kakashi-sensei isn't here, and neither is that bartender guy!" Naruto exclaimed in a slightly quiet and subdued voice. "I can't find anyone anywhere!"

Sasuke sat up then, frowning deeply. Glancing around the room, he spotted something and pointed to it. "He left his bag here..." He said, sliding his legs out of the bed. Naruto blinked, watching as Sasuke walked over to the pack and began rummaging through it. "Everything was left behind..."

"Why'd he do that?" Naruto asked, glancing at Sakura who was just now coming out of her sleep-like state. "He wouldn't just leave all that stuff here to go somewhere, would he?"

"How should I know?" Sasuke snapped, glaring at Naruto. After a moment, Sasuke pulled an object out of the backpack, looking at it with intense concentration. The item in his hands was the Interdimensional Travel scroll, and he immediately began to unfurl it.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Naruto asked sharply, to which Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Unlike you, I'm going to actually read this damn thing and _go home_." Sasuke growled, setting the scroll on the ground and beginning to read it, his Sharingan spinning.

Naruto blinked owlishly, his mind slowly catching up to the words Sasuke said. When it did, his temper flared. "I read everything in there!" Naruto yelled. "There wasn't anything about goin' back! Besides, why are you worried about that _now_!? We have to find Kakashi-sensei!"

"_You_ find him if you want," Sasuke spun his head around to glare, his Sharingan narrowed to slits, "I don't care. I'm going back to _our_ world."

Complete silence from Naruto, his mouth falling open agape in shock. Then, with much sputtering, he said "You're just going to _leave him behind_!?" This time it as not just his temper that flared, but a burning hot anger. "He's our teacher!"

"So what?" Sasuke said, his own anger rising up. Turning to glare at Naruto, he sneered at the blond, saying, "I have things _I_ need to accomplish, and I'm not going to be running around these damned 'universes' being held back from them because of _your_ stupidity!"

"You _bastard_..." Naruto snarled, his hands tightening into fists. "I always knew you were a jerk, but I didn't think you were _heartless_! Kakashi-sensei _saved _you – has saved _all of us_ before! - and you're gonna repay him by running off home because you're so selfish that you have to accomplish your stupid goal!?"

Sasuke stood up swiftly, a fist grabbing hold of Naruto's shirt and drawing him so close that their forehead protectors bumped. "You don't know _anything _about me or my goal!" Sasuke shouted, Naruto noticing his eyes were spinning rapidly, two tomoe in each eye. "I will _not _be held back from my vengence because you are too _stupid_ to realize what our situation is! Don't you want to become 'Hokage'? To make everyone 'acknowledge' you?! You can't do that when you're on an entirely_ different_ world, RETARD! You not only can't accomplish your dream now, but you were the one who ruined it for yourself!"

"You think I don't understand that!?" Naruto yelled back, pressing against Sasuke's forehead, forcing the other boy back as he grabbed hold of Sasuke's shirt in turn. "I DO understand! I understand _perfectly_! We're stuck on a world we DON'T KNOW, but UNLIKE YOU I'm not a damn drama queen who's so OBSESSED with himself that I don't care about other people and only care about my stupid, selfish self! _WHAT SORT OF HOKAGE WOULD I BE IF I LET MY FRIENDS AND COMRADES DIE!?_" Naruto yelled the last part so loud his ears rang, his breathing increasing in speed, his body breaking out into a sweat, his cheeks feeling as if they were on fire, his vision swimming with a red mist, and his nails poking holes in Sasuke's temporary clothes. "Kakashi-sensei is our _teacher_, and our _friend_! We're not leaving him behind!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he slapped Naruto's hand away, stepping away from the blond. "_I _am not a part of that 'you'." Turning his back to the blond, Sasuke knelt back down to the scroll, his eyes firmly locked on its surface with no intention of leaving it. "You can look for him if you want, I'm _going home_."

Naruto just stood there for a long time, glaring at the other boy, his body shaking with anger and frustration. His heart pounded in his chest and ears, and his focus was so centered on the other boy that he did not even notice the blood trickling down his fingers from where his sharpened nails broke skin. He also failed to notice Sakura, who had been staring at the entire scene in horrified silence, nor the tremors she was experiencing.

"I thought you were better than this, Sasuke." Naruto whispered heavily, his voice strained. "But now I see you're the kind of person who would _abandon _his friends if it meant saving yourself." Turning on his heel, Naruto stalked out of the room, grabbing a hold of the door as he left, "You're not just trash... you're _worse_ than _trash_." With that said, he slammed the door shut.

As he walked down the stairs in silence, Naruto hunched over onto himself, clutching his stomach, a fiery hot emotion toiling around inside. It hurt... it hurt a lot... and it was something Naruto had only felt a handful of times in his life... but never towards Sasuke. Naruto wasn't unused to arguing with Sasuke. On the contrary, he was used to having silly and petty arguments all the time.

But that's all they were. Even _he _knew that they were just silly and petty arguments where the meaning in them was something trivial and stupid. Naruto couldn't ever remember having an argument with Sasuke that was not anymore serious than their competitive relationship. There had never been a legitimate argument over the possible life and death of a friend, a comrade, a _teacher_. Especially _now_. Naruto had thought the two of them were _becoming friends_! Ever since Wave, Sasuke had seemed to begun lightening up, and after he saved Naruto's life, he was _sure_ they had become closer. They were _friends_, right? Still arguing and competing, but it wasn't out of hate or anything like that! Had he _really_ misjudged Sasuke that badly? Naruto thought he hadn't, but...

"You okay, boss?" One clone asked once he had made it downstairs, the clone looking at Naruto with concerned blue eyes. Oh great, now he was getting consolations _from himself_. "Your eyes are looking really red and weird. Kinda like a cat's."

Naruto balked a bit, glancing down at his hands. His fingernails had grown to a point, the bones in his hands looking sharper and more pronounced against his skin. There was blood on his palms, but not a single wound on them, and he realized that whatever wounds he had had already healed. In shock at this, Naruto tried to calm himself, taking several deep breaths, willing his mind to calm down. After a few minutes of slow, concentrated breathing, he could feel his nails and bones begin to return to normal, albeit painfully. "Phew... that was close."

"You're telling _me_!" The clone said, shaking his head. "I felt like I was gonna poof out of existence with you around! Anyways," the clone held out a hand, grinning. "look what I found! Keys to the other rooms!"

"Sweet!" Naruto beamed, snatching the keys up. "Maybe there's a clue in one of the rooms!"

"Yep! That's what I was thinking as well!" The clone said with a sage-like nod. "We'll keep checking down here, you check upstairs."

"Gotcha!" Naruto tightened his hand around the keys into a fist, turning on his heel to head up the stairs only to come to an abrupt stop. At the base of the stairs was _Sakura_, standing there nervously. Naruto blinked owlishly, his mouth opening slightly in wonderment. He was certain she'd have stayed with Sasuke, considering how obsessed with him she was. Then a thought occurred to him... maybe she was down here to _beat him up for yelling_ at Sasuke. "Ah, S-Sakura-chan...!"

"N-Naruto," she said, trying to look everywhere _but_ him, "u-um... I... I want to help you find Kakashi-sensei!" She rushed out, bowing her head. "You and Kakashi-sensei saved us, so... if he's in trouble, I want to help him too!"

Naruto stared in amazement, only to mentally beat himself up. That's right. Regardless of Sakura's obsession with Sasuke, she was still a kind girl who cared about others. There was a reason he liked her, and it wasn't entirely because of her looks! "Alright! We'll find Kakashi-sensei and show that jerk what teamwork really is!" Naruto pumped a fist, not really noticing Sakura's uneasy smile. Grabbing one of the keys in his left hand, Naruto handed it to Sakura. "I found the keys to the other rooms, so let's give them a look!"

Sakura blinked, looking at the key in confusion. "What do you expect to find in them? They're just unoccupied rooms, right?"

"Well," Naruto scratched his head, squinting as he did, "I don't know where else to look yet. There's a room down here, but it's just a kitchen, and the only place left in this building is upstairs."

"Oh..." Sakura nodded, turning on her heel and heading up the stairs, Naruto in tow. "Which one is for which?"

"Dunno." Naruto scratched his head. "Let's just try one." Naruto suggested, inserting the key into the door at the immediate right. It didn't turn. "Guess it's not this one." Sakura went to the door at the end of the hall, taking the key with her, while Naruto inserted the other key into lock. As expected, they both turned, and then they entered the rooms.

The first thing Naruto noticed upon entering was that the room was pitch black, and it had a strange musky scent to it. Not the old and dusty smell of a room that hadn't been used in a long time(like the Academy library), just... musky. Naruto scrunched up his nose, glancing around the room for anything odd. Not a bit seemed out of the ordinary... then again, it was completely dark.

Fumbling around in the dark for a desk, dresser or table – and knocking over countless items in the process – he found a candle that he stepped out into the hall to light before venturing back into the room to start his search proper. He found various knick-knacks knocked over on the dresser – his fault, he knew – along with a few books, but he couldn't exactly read them. Despite that, there was something inherently... _wrong_ about them. Like, just touching them made him feel sick to his stomach. Setting them aside, Naruto continued to look around more carefully. He looked in the dressers, behind them, and even under them. Nothing.

When he turned to the bed, he got nervous. Really nervous. He couldn't explain it, either. It was just something that sprung up all of a sudden once his eyes landed on it... he could recall hearing horror stories about finding something scary under the bed, and it was all coming back to him and making him rather nervous to look underneath. Still, he had to. It was the last place to look.

Setting the candle down on the ground, Naruto reached out and grabbed the mattress, beginning to kneel down to the ground. Sweat began to form on his forehead, and he cautiously bent over.

Nothing. There was absolutely _nothing_ underneath the bed. Naruto let out a heavy, relieved sigh. Only to stop breathing entirely when he saw something glint as the flames of the candle flickered. Upon closer inspection, there was a sword of sorts, laid flat on the ground and hardly noticeable outside of the light hitting the polished blade just right. Carefully, Naruto adjusted the candle until he had found the handle of the sword, and then carefully pulled it out.

It was a pretty plain looking sword, Naruto noted as he looked it over, but there was an odd sort of glimmer to it that didn't seem particularly normal for the metal he'd seen. Beyond that, it wasn't all that special, and it was kind of heavy, too. Rather than take it along, Naruto shoved it back under the bed, since he didn't feel right just taking something like that when it wasn't his. Sure, he had already taken the keys to these rooms and was rifling about the place, but his intention wasn't to steal stuff, he just wanted to find Kakashi!

Shaking his head, Naruto did another sweep around the room, but found all of nothing. With a sigh, Naruto was about to leave, only to stop and search around the room for candles. With his own candle, Naruto lit the other candles around, feeling oddly comforted by the new found light. There was something decidedly disturbing about the near total darkness, and he couldn't quite put a finger on _why_.

Leaving the room after that, he headed over to the other room, finding that Sakura had already lit the entire room, and was now going through the task of checking around the room. She was currently on her hands and knees, looking under the bed.

"You find anything?" Naruto asked, wondering if there was another sword under this room's bed.

"Nothing." Sakura said with a sigh, pushing herself up to a stand. "Just some books I can't read, some old, dusty clothes that have been infested with moths, and various little trinkets. Not a single clue about what happened to sensei."

Naruto let out a hum, crossing his arms. "That can only mean he left here, right?"

"I would guess so." Sakura said, shrugging. "But where would he have gone?

"I dunno... and I dunno why that bartender guy would have gone, too." Naruto shook his head. "I don't think Kakashi-sensei would have just left us alone. He probably would have left a clone at _least _to keep an eye on us..." Naruto squinted, thinking on the issue long and hard. "Ugh... I don't know."

"Well..." Sakura paused, looking thoughtful. "We should probably give the town a check, before we start jumping to any conclusions about what happened to him."

Naruto nodded in agreement, and it was at that moment two of his clones stepped into the room, one carrying both his and Kakashi's bags, the other carrying clothes. "Since we have the new rooms open, I thought we could change." One of the clones said. "I also took Kakashi's bag from the bastard, since he's only looking at the scroll."

Naruto nodded, taking his clothes while Sakura took hers. "I can change in the other room," Naruto said, "and then we'll go looking for Kakashi!"  
"Okay." Sakura said softly, trailing off as he nibbled on her lip. "But... what about Sasuke-kun? Should we really leave him alone?"

"Hrmph..." Naruto crossed his arms. Of course she'd still be worried about the bastard... then again, Naruto was _also_ worried about Sasuke, too. Regardless of the boy's attitude, Naruto still thought of the other boy as a friend, and he'd make damn well sure Sasuke didn't get hurt. "My clones can stay behind to watch him. He might not care about his comrades, but _I_ do."

"But what if something happens to your clones?" Sakura persisted, to which Naruto grinned.

Lifting a hand and jabbing his thumb against his temple, he said. "If a clone gets dispelled, all their memories are returned to me! If anything happens, we'll know right away!"

Sakura blinked owlishly, her jaw slacking slightly. "That's... _amazing_..." she whispered. "The amount of information you could learn in a short amount of time..."

Naruto chuckled somewhat nervously, not used to the notion of Sakura giving him _praise_. "It's how me and Kakashi-sensei got you and Sasuke out. I sent in a bunch of transformed clones and just scouted the place out." Naruto beamed with pride at Sakura's awe, but he quickly began to grow self-conscious under the girl's attention, and thus he quickly changed the subject. "A-anyways! We should get changed!"

"Right." Sakura agreed, seemingly forgetting their previous conversation. Naruto quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him and quickly moving to the other room to get changed. His clothes were completely dry, as they were made of a sort of nylon that was semi-water resistant, and thus weren't prone to getting thoroughly soaked. A small blessing, and one that saved him from a few of his very own pranks in the past.

Once he was finished, he stared at his own pack, along with Kakashi's. After a moment of internal debate, he pulled on Kakashi's larger pack and strapped it to his body. It was considerably looser than his own pack, but there was no threat of it slipping off, thankfully. After that, he strapped one of his kunai pouches on, leaving the other one alone.

Stepping out of the room, he found that Sakura had also just finished changing. "Um. Here." Naruto held out his backpack and second kunai pouch, scratching his head. "We didn't have time to grab Sasuke's or your stuff, and since I'm carrying sensei's bag and one of my pouches, you can carry my bag."

Sakura frowned, taking the pack with a slow nod. "Okay..." After she had put them both on, she looked somewhat uncomfortable wearing Naruto's stuff, but didn't verbally complain.

"Alright!" Naruto punched his right fist into his left palm. "Let's go look for Kakashi-sensei!"

_Grrrggghhkk..._

Both Nartuo and Sakura stared at one another, Naruto turning slightly red and growing uncomfortable under the girl's stare. "Uh... but first... let's grab something to eat."

* * *

Darkness. Darkness swam all around him, consumed his vision and left him in nothing. It not only clouded his sight, but he could feel that his other senses were likewise blocked, as though he was in a void, a black hole with no sight or sound. It felt like a dream. A dream where there was nothing to it, just a shapeless thought. An illusion.

Kakashi knew otherwise. This was no mere illusion. If it were, he'd have broken it. If it were, he'd have realized it. No, this was real. This void was as real as he was. It was shifting, toiling around, as if sentient. It was latched onto him like a shackle.

His vision of complete darkness was, for one brief moment, clear. A flash of lightning allowed him to see once more, and he saw a sort of bog all around him, spanning miles upon miles outward... yet that too changed along with the disappearance of light.

A building stood in front of him, one he recognized, but never wanted to see again. It was drawing him closer like a magnet, and he soon found himself pushed into the building.

Whereas before his senses were dulled, now they were sharp as any kunai, perceiving every little thing around him with perfect clarity. His feet moved on their own, as if dragging him through the building he wanted nothing more than to leave. Leading him exactly where they had once led him, many years ago...

There was a sliding door in front of him, and shakily, he reached out towards it against his will. With a quick thrust to the right, the door was thrown open, and the room beyond was revealed. Two figures were in the room, both immediately recognizable, though both should have long since been gone.

One of the figures was on the ground, lifeless and unmoving, blood pouring out of a wound across his stomach. A small knife was still held tightly in the figure's slowly cooling hand. _Seppuku_.

The other figure, short and small – oh so small – turned to Kakashi, staring up at him with two, lifeless black eyes. Kakashi wanted to turn away from those eyes, but he was compelled to stare into them. Unable to stop himself, Kakashi choked out a whisper. "Why?"

The small figure - oh so accurate to his child-self, but that was, should have been impossible – then cocked its head to the side. "_You know why_." The younger version of him said quietly. "_You killed him_. _You killed him with your scorn_."

Kakashi felt as if he was punched in the stomach on hearing those words, and he took a step backwards, and another when the figure on the ground began to shift. The figure looked at him, its face so much like his father, so much like his _own_, and it stared at him with lifeless eyes. "_You killed me_, _Kakashi_..." the man – his father - began crawling towards Kakashi, and though he tried to take a step back, his feet were frozen on the spot, "_Why_?"

"Stop..." Kakashi breathed out, trying to will the images, the _illusions_ away. Trying to forget about the painful memories, of the painful guilt, of all his countless mistakes, but they were coming to him and not stopping. "Stop it..."

"_I did everything for you_, _Kakashi_. _I raised you_... _I trained you_... _I loved you_..." Sakumo Hatake rose up from, blood still spilling out of the open wound on his stomach, and more than just that began to pour out. "_Why did you turn your back on me_? _Turn your back on your own father_?"

Kakashi could not answer, and Sakumo reached out for his shoulder, dragging him close. The dagger in Sakumo's right hand plunged itself into Kakashi's stomach, angled upwards into his heart. "_Join me in death_, _Kakashi_."

Death was not an uncommon thing for ninja. Every single shinobi was prepared to face their end with every mission, no matter how mundane or simple it might be. Long ago, Kakashi resolved he did not fear it. For many years, Kakashi _sought_ it. For his entire life, he _dealt_ it. A swift, painless death was how he ended many lives. He always made it quick. Always made it painless. He was an assassin, not a murderer.

The knife that was angled up into his heart should have killed him within seconds, and the suddenness of the blow would have forced the body into shock, making it relatively painless. But as the knife was yanked out of his flesh, only to renter it in another location entirely, as painfully as possible, Kakashi realized something.

He was still not dead.

There was the pain of death, but no release.

* * *

_A/N: __And thus begins the psychological torture of Kakashi. __I think I may be __something of __a sadist, __as__ I enjoy putting __Team 7 __into __shitty situations__ too much. __I go and g__ive them a false sense of security with a peaceful place, then BAM. Nightmare gods up in the house. __Wait, w__hat am I saying? I __don't think I'm a sadist, I __**know**__ I'm a sadist. __My bad._

_ When I first started writing this chapter __a long ways back__, I was initially going to have a relatively simple plot that could easily be called "generic fantasy" __and save the __more__ mind bending stuff for the next world__(since the next world could __**easily**__ house __all the __mind bending stuff __that I want it to__)__, but that ultimately led __me to encounter the dreaded writer's block__. Then I played some ES games, and remembered that my favorite part is doing Daedric quests, __which inspired me to write __something Daedra related__,__ and this is what __my mind __wrought. __I was actually going to do something Mephala/Dark Brotherhood related, but my fingers led me somewhere else entirely._

_ I__'ve__ considered__ changing __the plot __several times__(as I wrote it, after I wrote it, as I wrote world 3, as I posted this fic, as I posted the first chapter of this world __and plenty of times in between all of them__)__ since __I feel __like __this sort of plotline __is pretty__ dark__(and likely the darkest thing in the fic for a __**long**__ time) __and 'dangerous' __for so early in the fic__, but I ultimately like how it turned out, and it sets up pretty much everything I wanted to do in a way that few other scenarios would. __It just __gets __a few things__ out of the way __early__ so I can focus on genuine crossover __stuff__(and plot)__ later on._

_Until next time. Ja ne._


	7. W2, C3: The Sleeper

_Chapter Title: __The Sleeper_

_Words:_ 8963

_Series:_ Naruto, Elder Scrolls

* * *

The rain drenched Balmora was hard to search in the darkness of night, any moonlight or starlight was covered by pitch black clouds, and any candles or torches that may have once been lit were all extinguished by the wind and rain. Worse still, none of the houses or buildings had any lights coming from their windows, making the entire street completely pitch black, with the thick rain making it impossible to see beyond a mere inch in front of them.

Naruto and Sakura had to struggle in order to walk the streets. The winds had picked up to an immeasurable degree, being strong enough to easily knock them off their balance. If not for the tree-walking lesson Kakashi had taught them, they'd have been knocked straight off their feet and probably dragged off into the current of the river that seemed to have grown higher than it had been when they first entered the city. As it stood, they had to be incredibly careful with walking, balancing the chakra from foot to foot with each step in order to anchor themselves to the ground and not trip over themselves. Sakura managed it relatively easily, but her reserves were waning and quickly. Naruto managed it with _much _more difficulty, but he wasn't tiring out at all.

Of course, they both knew they'd need to find a place to stop. Though Naruto might have endless stamina to continue this for some time, Sakura did not. It became even more apparent when Sakura began to clutch Naruto's arm as they walked, signaling they _needed_ to find a place to at least get out of the brunt of the wind.

"I... can't... hold... on...!" Sakura gasped out, her voice barely carrying over the sound of the heavy wind, her grip slacking on Naruto's arm. The blond glanced over to Sakura, clear worry on his face over her condition. Then, in the one moment their eyes met, her grip loosened entirely.

Panic struck him then, and he reflexively reached out for her. The wind made it difficult to latch onto her, but he managed to drag her into both of his arms. Then, with her in his grip, he formed three clones, each one grabbing onto Sakura so that Naruto could steady himself. With the immediate danger out of the way, Naruto gasped a bit, frantically looking around the area for some sort of safe zone. It was only through dumb luck that he managed to make out a small light from a building a few meters away. "Uh...! That building!" Naruto bellowed out to his clones, pointing to vague flickering of light that he really hoped actually was light and not an illusion. They quickly - or as quickly as they could without being blown off course by the wind - moved to the building.

As luck would have it, it was indeed a building, and they managed to get a small amount of cover from the rain underneath the buildings awning. After a minute of catching his breath, Naruto turned the handle of the door, rejoicing the fact it was unlocked, and let the clones drag Sakura inside before slamming the door shut behind him.

After setting Sakura down and making sure she was okay, Naruto let out a breath of relief. Not only because was she okay, but because she was also still awake... just severely tired. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, drawing her attention to his face. Lifting a hand, Naruto held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?!" He asked, just as they had in the movies.

Sakura blinked owlishly, her eyes slowly narrowing. Not in concentration or in confusion, but more in irritation. "Three." She said, giving Naruto a dry look. "I'm not in the condition that needs to be asked that sort of question, you know."

Naruto shrugged, looking sheepish. "Well, you looked really outta it, so... uh..." Deciding it'd be best to change the subject before he seriously started to consider it, he looked around. "Huh... wonder what this place is?"

"I don't know..." Sakura mumbled, trying to sit up, only to groan and lie back down. "Ugh... I feel too weak..."

"You just rest, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said worriedly. "I'll go ahead and look around! I'll leave some of the clones here, to make sure nothing happens!"

"Okay..."

Nodding to his still remaining clones, two of them remained with Sakura, while one walked alongside Naruto as he ventured deeper into the building. The entrance hall of the building didn't really give away what kind of building it was, as it rounded a corner near immediately. Even after rounding the corner, Naruto couldn't really say what sort of building they were in. It was pretty cramped, gaudily decorated, but it _did_ have two sets of stairs. One to the right that led up, and one straight ahead that led down.

Naruto sent his clone up the stairs, heading down to the basement on his own. He couldn't help but feel a budding nervousness building up as he descended, but he resolved his nerves and finally reached the bottom. There was nothing but a hall at the bottom, one that led to the right and he, with as much confidence as he could muster, turned the corner. What he saw, he was not expecting.

There was a _tree_ in here. Naruto couldn't help but gawk at the sight of it. Why would anyone put a _tree_ inside a _building_? In a _basement_ no less? It didn't make a lick of sense! Sure, it wasn't a _huge _tree or anything, but still! What point was there in putting a tree inside a building? Plants, sure, but trees were kinda weird, right?

"Interesting..." A soft, raspy voice said to his left, startling him. Naruto immediately reacted with drawing a kunai, putting as much space between himself and the new voice. Sitting on a chair there was a _cat_(well, it was closer to a tiger than a cat), wearing _clothes_, and sitting in a way that made it look very much like a human. "You still remain in this world of Waking Life." Naruto squinted, a bit confused at what she said. The cat rolled its Rs like _crazy, _and it was making it kinda hard to follow.

"Wha-?" Naruto scratched his head, hand still holding the kunai forward in a threatening manner, but it lost some of its luster when he had let one hand reach his head, along with his confused and squinted expression. "What do you mean I'm still awake?"

"It is as simple as I said it, boy..." The cat stood up gracefully – it was a cat, after all! - and moved closer to Naruto, its gait soft and noiseless, reminding Naruto just a bit of those ANBU guys back in Konoha. Though that was probably only cuz it was a _cat_, and he remembered one of the ANBU that caught him most tended to wear a cat mask. Either way, it did not seem perturbed by the kunai pointed its way, as it still moved closer to him, making audible sniffing sounds. "Hrm... you have a peculiar smell on you. It's foreign. Very foreign..."

Naruto sniffed his jacket deeply in several spots, making a face when he caught a whiff of something _still _on his jacket. "Dammit, I thought I got that stupid ca-er..." Naruto stopped himself, eying the human-like cat warily. Kakashi's words the day before stuck in his mind, and he didn't want to pointlessly _offend _this cat with stories about a _demon_ cat masquerading as the Daimyo's wife pet cat, nor how it had peed on him. "I'm sorry if I stink, but I tried to wash it out, honest! I even washed it like, six times!"

The cat stared at him confusedly, only for it to shift into a completely blank one. "You have the smell of urine on you, yes, but it is not what I smelled." The cat said, sniffing with distaste. "You are not from here, in more ways than one, and despite all odds you have not descended into the realm of Waking Nightmares. It is... a curious thing."

Waking Life, Waking Nightmares. Man. It made literally _no sense_ to Naruto. Like, how do you have waking nightmares? Is that when you wake up from nightmares? Or is it like... daydreams that are nightmares and not cool dreams of kicking someone's ass? It was just confusing. Kinda like the lizard from before. Were animal people in this world always cryptic talkers or something?

"Ooookay..." Naruto lowered his kunai, shrugging. "I don't get what you're saying, but I'm kinda looking for someone. He's tall, got spiky white hair, and wears a mask over his face. You seen anyone like that?"

"No." The cat said simply. "However... if my guess is right, I may be able to be of assistance."

"Really?" Naruto asked, warily. As trusting as Naruto could be, he wasn't sure if he could trust this cat person thing. Not when there was something clearly suspicious going on in the city. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't _that _stupid. Well, maybe not _anymore_. Not after Mizuki. "Could you at least explain what the heck you mean by the waking stuff?"

"Your ignorance of what you face will be the end of you..." The cat hummed. "Very well, boy, I will explain. This city, Balmora, has fallen under the control of the Daedric Prince of Nightmares, Vaermina."

"Daedric... Prince?" Naruto scratched his head. Was this one of those things he should know if he lived in this world? "What's that?"

The cat narrowed its eyes at Naruto, examining him that much more closely. "Tell me, boy, from where do you hail?"

Naruto squinted at the cat, frowning. "...What'd ya say?"

With a sigh, the cat rephrased its statement. "From where do you come from, boy?"

"Oh! Well, why didn't you just say so?" Naruto never understood older people using big, fancy words when they could say it so much more simply. It seemed like a waste. "Uh, well... er... I'm from..." Naruto debated what he should say, whether he should lie about where he came from, but realized he lacked any knowledge of this world's locations... "I'm from Konoha!" Naruto finally said, deciding to tell the whole truth.

"Curious... a foreign word..." the cat circled Naruto once, sniffing the air as it did, "hmm... then... perhaps, it is a foreign _world_? Curious... very curious..." It seemed the cat was quick on the uptake. "Very well, boy, I will excuse your ignorance just this once, for it seems you've been caught up in something far beyond your control." The cat paused for a moment, mentally considering something. "The Daedric Princes are being – and some would call them _gods_, but they are far from it – that walk the realm of Oblivion that coexists with Mundus, this realm. Each of them has their own realm within Oblivion, and they control some aspect of power there that also affects the mortal realm of Mundus. The one that has infected this place is known as Vaermina, the Prince of Nightmares and terrors. It is the prince that is most feared by all living beings for it knows all our deepest of fears."

Crossing his arms, Naruto tried to pick through the words for something that made sense to him, and so he asked, "Are you saying a god that gives people nightmares is here, or something?"

"In the most simplest of terms, yes." The cat agreed. "However, it is not here physically, but it has dragged all of its inhabitants to its realm of Quagmire to suffer in endless nightmares, but these nightmares are no mere fabrications of the mind. Everything you experience in these dreams is completely _real_. The pain, the fear, the _death_... everything you can possibly feel in these dreams is wholly real, and completely eternal. There is no way to escape such a fate."

Naruto gulped audibly, understanding _that _perfectly, and it didn't sound good in his book. "W-why did this guy take control of this place?"

"In the wake of the Oblivion Crisis, and the recent disappearance of Vivec, Vvardenfell has fallen under hard times. Fear runs rampant through the hearts of its people. People's minds are filled with horrible thoughts of death and destruction. Fear of the Ministry of Truth crumbling to the ground and destroying the city of Vivec. Fear of the Red Mountain erupting, covering this country in ashes and destroying all life. Fear of abandoning one's home, and being forced to watch as it becomes uninhabitable. Vaermina noticed this rampant fear with great delight, and Balmora is just one of the Prince's many targets. Vvardenfell is crumbling, and rapidly. Soon, it will be nothing more than a wasteland, inhabited only by Daedra that can handle its arid environment."

"Wait, are you saying that everyone's in these nightmares?" Naruto asked, frowning. "How come we aren't?"

"A question... difficult to answer. I know why _I _am not within the realm of nightmares, but you... I question whether my theory is correct or not, but I would assume that you were not dragged into the nightmares simply because you are not a part of Balmora. You are an outsider, neither our man, nor our mer, nor our beast, and exist from beyond this veil of reality. It seems you are incapable of being touched by Vaermina's dreams because of it." The cat said, leaving Naruto even _more_ confused. What the heck was a mer? For that matter, how was he not a man? Well, sure, he was still technically a _kid_, but wasn't he a human or whatever? That's what she meant, right? "All that inhabited this place have all been dragged into her realm of nightmare."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, looking at her in confusion. "But we saw some people yesterday when we went to the inn, though! Although we haven't seen anyone since... well, besides you." Naruto said, causing the cat to frown, "And we also saw a... er... a lizard guy when we were entering this place."

"Worrisome... but more than likely what you saw was not real. At least, not in a normal sense." The cat said, shrugging lightly. "More than likely what you saw was merely an illusion created by Vaermina to lure you into her nightmares. The Prince of Nightmares could easily create such an illusion in this tainted land... did you notice anything peculiar about them?"

"Uh, well... they kept repeating the same things. Something about 'mudcraps' being 'terrible creatures', and anything we asked them got 'what's that' from them. Wouldn't say anything else."

"Hm. Then it is likely they were merely constructs – Daedric in nature, perhaps – of a sort imitating the appearance of a person." the cat said, then paused as it considered something, "And it's _crab_."

"Right! Knew something was wrong about that..." Naruto scratched his head. "Um... so! What's your name?"

"Neeshka. What of your name, boy?"

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto offered a hand, to which the cat looked at it curiously, before accepting it. Neeshka seemed slightly taken aback to have it shaken roughly, but Naruto was thinking of something else entirely. The fur was _awesomely soft_. Then, he heard something behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto's face broke into a grin. "Ah, Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved to the girl as she walked slowly into view, a clone supporting her. "I found someone who says they might be able to help us find Kakashi-sensei!"

"Really?" Sakura asked, blinking. She looked over at Neeshka, her eyes widening slightly upon sighting her. "A-ah... thank you very much for helping us...?" Sakura trailed off, leaving it hanging for Neeshak to fill in the name, but it was Naruto who did that. Sakura repeated herself, throwing a look between Neeshka and Naruto, trying to determine if the boy had said anything insulting to make her silent, but unable to tell just by their expressions.

Especially considering Neeshka was eying the clone next to Sakura with intense curiosity. "Curious... very curious. You are capable of replicating yourself, boy?"

"Uh..." Naruto scratched his chin, squinting in confusion. "What's that?"

Sakura sighed exasperatedly, "Replicating means copying, Naruto. She's asking if you can make copies of yourself."

"Oh." Naruto filed that away in his brain for later review. At the moment, he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I can make copies of myself."

Neeshka hummed in thought. "Then are you a mage, perchance?"

"I'm a _ninja_!" Naruto answered exuberantly, proudly sticking out his chest. Then he paused, deflating as he did. "What's a mage?"

This time, Sakura did not look exasperated, but thoughtful. "I think it's a magician... right?" Sakura asked, to which Neeshka nodded slowly.

"A magician, a wizard, sorcerer, spellcaster... call it whatever you will. The ability to replicate the body is something I know only mages to capable of, though they are rarely tangible. To be tangible requires considerable sacrifice, and creates a strain on the user... which I see none of on you, boy."

Before Naruto could say anything about that(and likely boast about how awesome he was), Sakura cut in. "Um, well.. they're not really spells, or magic..." Sakura said, slowly considering what to say, "they're Ninjutsu."

"Ninjutsu..." Neeshka struggled with the word, frowning as she did. "Another foreign word." She muttered, shaking her head a moment later. Looking at the two with great consideration, she sighed. "...Before we can begin to find your companion, I must prepare the two of you for the struggles ahead... follow me, children." Neeshka wandered off, into another room entirely.

Naruto and Sakura glanced at one another warily. It was Naruto who eventually gave in, following after Neeshka with a confident stride, but a general wariness of it. Sakura herself was more hesitant, unable to help being suspicious. She had missed a significant amount of the conversation Naruto had with Neeshka, and was left wondering about the cat... it didn't help that Naruto was the type that could be a bit too trusting.

With a small sigh, Sakura followed after her teammate, deciding that if he was going to be trusting towards the cat, she'd be completely alert and expecting of anything. She swore to herself that she wouldn't get herself or Naruto caught by an enemy. She'd do her best to prevent it.

* * *

It was raining heavily where he lay, the cold droplets of water that pounded against his skin feeling as if they were rocks being thrown at him with each droplet. Worse yet was he could do nothing but accept the pelting rain without so much as a reprieve. His body was incapable of moving, his limbs heavy as lead, and his heart heavier. Water was building up around his body, and soon he'd be entirely submerged in it. It was even possible he'd drown before the water submerged him, every breath he took had him inhaling water into his lungs.

However, his fate was not drowning. Something latched onto either of his arms, and he was forcibly pulled up to a stand. From there, he was dragged against his will - held up only by his arms - through the water. Kakashi was unable to determine how long they dragged him, only that it felt like an eternity. When they had come to a stop, Kakashi blearily looked around, finding nothing discriminate about his location. It was a large open space, with water everywhere, rain pouring down from the sky.

Whatever holding him up dumped him to the ground, the impact knocking the wind out of his lungs and kicking up the water. Kakashi was unable to see through his wince, and he did not see his assailants. Then, his head was yanked up off the ground, the familiar feeling of rope wrapping itself around his neck. Kakashi gasped as it tightened, constricting his throat and preventing him from breathing – even more than his wet mask already did.

The rope pulled him further off the ground, and soon Kakashi found his feet dangling beneath him. Whatever had been preventing his muscles to move seemed to disappear in an instant, and Kakashi struggled against the rope binding his neck, fighting in vain to give his throat any sort of slack. No matter how strongly he pulled, the rope wouldn't come undone.

"_You deserve this_,_ Kakashi_." A voice said, freezing any movement from Kakashi, his vain attempts to breath stopping. Walking in front of him was someone so familiar, but unlike what his memory knew. A man stood in front of him, once spiked black hair drooping downwards, dripping wet from the rain. A black right eye gazed up at him, the entire right side of the man's face battered, the skin drooping, and the bones disfigured. His left eye socket had no eye, yet it was held agape, several rectus muscles hanging loosely from it, blood dripping down his left cheek. His lips were turned upwards in a crooked smile, not one of mirth, but of gleeful contempt.

"O...bi...to..." Kakashi gasped out, recognizing the man, but not as he was standing in front of him. No longer was he the boy that Naruto reminded him so much of, the boy that haunted his dreams and nightmares, of the boy he modeled himself so much after...

"_That_'_s me_!" Obito cocked a grin, pointing both thumbs at himself. Then, he threw his head back and laughed. "_You should see the look on your face_,_ Kakashi_! _You_'_re terrified_!" Obito shook his head, stepping closer to Kakashi. "_But deep down_, _you accept it_, _don_'_t you_? _You know that_, _more than your father_, _your teammates_, _and_ _your teacher__ ever did_, _you deserve __to die_. _To die_,_and repent for the sin of outliving all that deserve life more than you_!"

Kakashi tried to struggle against the seemingly tightening ropes, feeling his cheeks tingling as the blood circulation to his head was slowly being cut off. It was only his training as a ninja that prevented him from needing more air, but that too would soon run out. Kakashi knew... he was going to die.

"_You know why __you deserve death_, _too_, _don_'_t you_?" Obito asked, his face barely an inch away from Kakashi's. With his forehead protector still down, Kakashi could see nothing but the empty socket.

_The empty socket that should not be there. The socket that once held the eye that was now Kakashi's own._

"_I asked you_... _I died asking you to protect Rin_, _and what do you go and do_?" Obito whispered, his breath brushing against Kakashi's cheek. "_You go and kill her_." Obito leaned back, tsking as he did. "_I even gave you one of my very own eyes to do that job_, _and you fail spectacularly_! _BY KILLING HER_!" Obito yelled, his breathing speeding up briefly, only for him to exhale and calm down a moment later. "_What part of _'_protect_' _is that_?"

"O-"

Before the sound had even left his throat, Obito was in Kakashi's face again. "_DON_'_T YOU __**DARE**__ TALK TO ME_! _YOU LOST THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO ME A LONG TIME AGO_, _KAKASHI_!" Obito shouted, Kakashi's vision once again flooded by nothing more than the empty socket that haunted his mind.

_It shouldn't exist. I should have been the one to die that day... it should have been me..._

Obito leaned back, once again calm in record time. He laughed slightly, shaking his head. "_But I guess it_'_s okay_, _now_." Obito said with a crooked grin. Reaching up, Obito slipped the Konoha Forehead Protector from Kakashi's face. Kakashi felt a shudder run down his spine, the familiar blue chakra of Obito flooding the vision of Sharingan. It was the first thing he had seen upon opening his new Sharingan eye. "_I_'_ll succeed where YOU failed_, _Kakashi_." Obito tossed the forehead protector to the side, reaching up to run his fingers along the scar that resulted in the loss of his original eye. "_I_'_m taking this back_."

Obito's fingers dug into Kakashi's eye socket, his mouth dropping open to scream in pain, but nothing came out.

* * *

In the dimly illuminated room, he stared distractedly at the sealing scroll, his Sharingan absorbing the information, but his mind remaining elsewhere. For what had to be the umpteenth time, Sasuke cursed internally. No matter how much he struggled to, he couldn't focus on the damn task at hand, his mind wandering to pointless, _stupid_ arguments that he should be able to ignore so easily. Learning this technique was the most important things to him at this moment, because it meant his _life_.

He had a goal. A goal that he had thought about in every waking and unwaking moment of the past four yearsof his life. It was a goal he sought to carry through without fail, and one he had trained for hours, days, weeks, _years_ to accomplish. He worked himself to the state of unconsciousness. He devoted the past years of life to accomplish it, and he'd devote plenty more. Yet it had been set back by an _idiot_ blond who called himself a friend, with literally _no way_ to see his goal set back on its course!

It frustrated him, angered him, and he wanted nothing more than to beat down the idiot who got him into the mess in the first place, just to show him how weak and incompetent he was... but he hadn't. For just a brief moment, as he stared into Naruto's eyes – the idiot's bright blue eyes that seemed disturbingly red – he saw something that he couldn't explain. Pure anger, and an innate fear had bubbled up inside his stomach from seeing it in the normally happy-go-lucky blond. He had squashed it instantly, but it had still happened.

For a split second, he had been afraid of the _dead last_ of his class.

He couldn't quite explain it, but rather than acknowledge it, he completely ignored the other boy and ended the conversation then and there. He had _intended_ to immerse himself in the scroll immediately and began to read through it quickly – his Sharingan would remember it with perfect clarity, after all – but his other damn team mate had to butt in.

_"S-sasuke-kun..." Sakura stuttered quietly, earning a heated glare from Sasuke. "You're not... you don't really mean that, do you? You're really... you're __not__ really going to try to get back home without us, __right__?"_

_ Sasuke sneered at her, "Are you going to spout of nonsense about 'friendship' and 'teammates', too?" He spat out, his glare intensifying. _

_ "But! But Kakashi-sensei and Naruto saved us! You're just going to-"_

_ "If that dumbass hadn't use this stupid technique in the first place, we wouldn't even __**be **__here! It's __**all his fault**__!" Sasuke yelled, mind whirling. "I don't care what you or that __**dumbass**__ says! I need to get back... I need to get stronger..." he turned back to the scroll, trailing off into his own memories. His memories of that man..._

_ "B-but, S-Sasuke-kun... how are you going to get stronger without Kakashi-sensei? He's our teacher!"_

_ "I don't need him!" Sasuke barked, __whirling to a stand and glaring __a__t the girl. "I don't need __a__ tardy, __stupid__ teacher, I don't need __an __incompetent__ teammate, and I don't need __a crybaby like__**you**__! I don't need __**anyone**__! __I only need __**myself**__!__ I will get strong-"_

_ Sasuke was cut off by a hand slapping him across the face, and his mouth snapped shut, his eyes widening in surprise. Reflexively, his hand reached up to his face, eyes practically bugging out of his face as they stared at Sakura. She was glaring at him, holding back the tears he could see clearly in her eyes._

_ "You can go home if you want, Sasuke." Her tone, and the complete lack of 'kun' caused Sasuke to wince __involuntarily__. "I'm going to help Naruto find Kakashi-sensei, and then we'll go home __**together**__."_

_ Sasuke was left in complete silence as she left the room without another word._

Of all the people he had assumed would slap him, Sakura was the last on the list. In all honesty, Sasuke never expected to get slapped. By anyone. Ever.

Yet here he was, rubbing his still tingling cheek while stewing in his miserable thoughts. They refused to focus on the sealing scroll, and he couldn't get his previous conversations out of his head. It was ridiculous, completely and utterly, but he kept thinking about how _angry_ Naruto had been, and how _disgusted_ Sakura looked. Even beyond that, he couldn't get the image of Kakashi giving him a disappointed, disapproving look over his actions.

What the hell was wrong with him? He should be thinking about getting home, getting stronger, killing _that man_... but all he could think about was his team... their dumb, smiling faces. Their annoying, aggravating voices...

Their mutilated corpses after they encountered something they couldn't handle.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke muttered a string of curses as he rolled up the sealing scroll. Setting it aside, he stood and changed out of his temporary clothing and back into his usual clothes.

If all he could focus on was them, then he _would_ focus on them. It'd mean getting _something_ done.

Just as he finished pulling on his shirt, he heard an undignified squawking from downstairs. Frowning, Sasuke grabbed the sealing scroll and headed towards the door. When he reached the door, he could hear voices outside it. And they were _all_ the same voice.

"Oy! Oy! Grab that sword in the room!" One of the voices said, muffled by the door.

"Right! Gotcha!" Another said, and there was some loud thudding, some panicked cries from downstairs, followed by yelling.

Sasuke threw open the door, finding two Narutos standing at the top of the staircase looking as scared as they did determined. "What the hell are you chattering about?"

"Hey, _bastard_!" One of them said harshly as he ignored the question, turning his head to look at Sasuke. "There's something crazy and freaky down there!"

Crazy and freaky? Sasuke was about to respond with how unhelpful the description was, only to stop when he saw black masses of shadows shifting like water down in the main room of the inn, beady yellow eyes staring up at him from within. He shut his mouth with a snap. Crazy and freaky _indeed_. They seemed to not want to go past the first step, apparently repulsed by the small flames of light that flickered from the candles, but there were still tiny threads of shadows that crawled their way up the stairs.

"What the hell is that?" Sasuke asked, though considering what the clone had just said, he highly doubted getting a good, solid reply.

"Hell if I know! It just showed up outta nowhere!" One of the Naruto clones said, shrugging.

"It didn't really seem to notice us until we poked it, and then it took out number 1 and number 2 like they were nothing!" The other clone said, looking aghast. "It almost got me, too, but I managed to get up the stairs before it did!"

"Hn." More than anything, Sasuke wondered about Naruto's sanity if the boy was numbering his clones, even in a bad situation like this...

"I got it!" Another Naruto shouted, running out of one of the rooms, carrying a large, unwieldy looking sword. Its blade was transparent and crystal-like – and was green in color – and had a mild red gleam to it, while the hilt was a mixture of black and green. "Come at me, ya bastard!" He shouted to the shadows below, foolishly charging forward with a battle cry.

"Oy! You're going to get killed, you dumbass!" The other two Naruto clones shouted after him, but it was far too late. The sword wielding clone swung wildly at the shadow and something completely unexpected happened.

The shadows burst into flames.

With flames covered its shadowy body, the shadow creature let out a shrill shriek, tendrils of shadow lashing out as it writhed about in agony. "Haaaaaah!" The sword wielding Naruto let out another loud battle cry, swinging the sword like an axe, continuously chopping away at the shadow.

"Holy shit!" One Naruto said, mouth dropped open in shock. "It's a sword that starts things on fire!"

"That's so cool! I want one!"

"You're all clones." Sasuke deadpanned, shaking his head when he realized he was thinking too much about Naruto's idiosyncrasies. "Tch, whatever. Let's get the hell out of here while we can."

The two Naruto clones nodded their head. "Yeah, good idea!" And then they dashed down the stairs, Sasuke in tow. "Oy! Number 5! Let's go! We need that sword!"

"Right, gotcha!" Number 5, the sword wielding one, stopped hacking away at the shrinking shadows and charged the door, kicking it open with gusto. "Let's g-AAA-" his cry was cut off by a _pop_, his body dispelling into a cloud of smoke. The sword clattered against the ground, and – with a quick sleight of hand – Sasuke picked it up as he ran, slashing through the shadow as he did while keeping the sealing scroll tucked under his right arm. Immediately, flames began covering the shadow, the creature in obvious pain.

However, it stepped out into the rain, and the flames began to die down. Sasuke cursed under his breath, wondering if his _Great Fireball _would be able to withstand the torrent of rain, but unable to test it with his hands full as they were.

"You guys go on ahead!" One of the Narutos said, drawing several kunai. "I'll keep him distracted! Get to the boss!"

"Good luck, number 3!" The other Naruto said, throwing a salute as he did. Number 3 acknowledged the salute with a nod, turning to the shadow and charging it with a battle cry. Although it was suicide, it distracted the shadow long enough for the other clone and Sasuke to get out of the awning and into the streets.

Almost immediately, they were thrown off balance, but with quick reactions, they managed to stick themselves to the slick ground beneath their feet.

"Where is the real you?!" Sasuke yelled through the rain, his hand tightening around the hilt of the glass sword.

"I dunno!" The clone yelled back, and Sasuke stared at him in shock. "I don't get memories from the boss!"

"Well that's just _perfect_!" Sasuke growled. "We're just running blindly into things when we have no idea where the hell we're supposed to go!"

"Hey, hey!" For once, Naruto looked serious in his irritation. "You have no right to complain! _You're_ the one who wanted to stay behind!"

Sasuke wanted to retort, but held his tongue, realizing the blond was very much in the right with the comment, as much as Sasuke hated to admit it. "Tch..." He glanced ahead, seeing vague dots of yellow moving towards them. "Catch!" Sasuke grunted, tossing the scroll to the Naruto clone who caught it. With his right hand freed, Sasuke brought his hands together, still holding onto the sword, and went through several seals before bringing his right hand to his mouth and exhaling.

The fireball that flew out was large and undeterred by the rain, its flames illuminating the darkness, and alighting the shadow that was moving towards Sasuke and the clone. It let out a shrill shriek at being caught alight, shrinking away from the bright light of the fireball that reached a wall and exploded. With the light of the flames still burning, Sasuke picked a direction and went with it. The clone followed after him with a bit of struggle, but was right beside him the entire way.

Something snaked its way around Sasuke's left ankle, and he found himself falling forward. It took all he had to move the sword in his left hand out of the way of impaling him, and he hit the stone ground hard. With the disorientation of having the wind knocked out of him, he could do nothing as the the tendril of shadow began dragging him into its mass. It was only the quick thinking of slashing at the shadow with the sword that saved him, and only barely. Still disoriented from hitting the ground, he stumbled up to a stand, but more shadows appeared through the dark and wrapped themselves around his limbs. They were trying to drag him down by his hands and legs, and his body wasn't recovered enough to resist. He hit the ground again, this time landing on his back, and his diaphragm had a relapse on its spasms.

Cursing internally, Sasuke tried to free himself once again with the sword, but the shadows were wrapped around him too tight. He was getting dragged into the shadow, and there was _nothing _he could do to stop it.

For a brief moment, he lamented the fact he didn't go with Naruto and Sakura, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about that now. Much like their overall predicament, hindsight was 20/20, and he should have thought things through better.

"Go!" Sasuke grit out through the spasms in his chests, looking at the Naruto clone that was unsure whether to help or run. "Get the scroll to Naruto!"

The clone paused for a brief second, before turning. Over his shoulder, he shouted, "Don't you dare die here, bastard, cuz I'm gonna save you! You and Kakashi-sensei! Count on it!"

"I _am_!" Sasuke grunted, and it was the legitimate truth. At this point, he could only put his life in the hands of Naruto and Sakura. As loathsome as the idea might seem to him, he had no choice.

And, minutely, he believed they could do it. Naruto was too stubborn to give up. Even if he was completely outmatched, he'd keep on trying. No matter what.

With that mildly comforting thought in mind, Sasuke let himself succumb to the darkness of slumber.

* * *

Naruto was... ecstatic. The cat, Neeshka, was teaching them _magic_! And not just those silly parlor tricks those out of town "street magicians" used, but honest to god _magic_. Like, like... like shooting fireballs and stuff magic! The kind that civilians and ninjas could both agree were awesome(ninjas sourced being himself)! And it was _awesome_! Naruto had been wanting to learn how to do that fireball jutstu of Sasuke's since he had seen it, but now he was getting _magic_ that could shoot fireballs out of his _hands _and that was _waaay _cooler than blowing it out of your mouth with your cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk! And it was without those pesky ninja seals!

That was probably the best thing about it, too. _No seals_! Naruto always had trouble memorizing the hand seals of jutsus – that's why he liked the Kage Bunshin so much, since it was just one seal – and this completely mitigated that. And this was even _easier _than the Kage Bunshin, since it required _zero _hand seals! That made it nice and easy, just the way he liked it.

The only problem was... it actually _wasn't_ easy. It wasn't hard like making normal clones was hard: where he could create them, but they just sucked and couldn't do anything. No, this was hard in that he could _barely_ use the technique at all. In order to use magic, one had to shape the magic in their mind utilizing the glyphs that were shown in the "spell books", then project it through their body utilizing the energy known as 'Magicka' – which, according to what Sakura had said, was the same thing as their 'Chakra'. It didn't _sound _hard in theory, but Naruto had trouble shaping this 'magic' in his mind.

Sakura, on the other hand, had no trouble forming the magic. Her first try ended in failure, but that's only because she wasn't entirely sure what to do. Once Neeshka explained the principle theory and function in more detail(done only on request by Sakura, as apparently Neeshka had dumbed it down considerably for Naruto), she got it on her second try. Her problem was that she had very little Magicka/Chakra and became exhausted after just a few spells, and none of them were that powerful due to the lack of chakra. That was the exact opposite of Naruto. Naruto knew he'd have more than enough chakra to use multiple spells in a row, but he definitely lacked the control to do so.

"To use these spells is only a matter of imagining them, boy." Neeshka said with an incredulous look and tone. "Do you lack the brain power required for something so simple as imagining?"

"It's _hard_!" Naruto complained, crossing his arms with his face set in a large pout. "It's not as simple as you make it sound!"

"But it _is_. I would know, for I have been doing it for years. All you need to do is _think_." Neeshka snapped, shaking her head. "There are some that require far more than just simple imagination, but these are the most basic of spells! Children younger than _you _have been taught these as simple, harmless tricks for _years_.All you need is patience; patience and concentration. It is one thing trying to concentrate in the midst of battle, but when simply practicing it is _another_ matter entirely. You should have all the concentration in the world, yet here you are, appearing to lack it!"

Naruto bristled at the insult, _knowing_ it should be easy, but... well, he couldn't sit still and concentrate when there was Kakashi to worry about! Not to mention, he was still thinking about his argument with Sasuke, and he was worried about never getting home, Sakura possibly getting kidnapped, Kakashi being dead, Sasuke leaving without them, and, and...

Taking a deep breath, Naruto forced himself to stop thinking about all of that. Instead of focusing on all those things, or even on the spells, he focused on one thing. One thing he could count on to calm him down whenever he was troubled...

He was sitting on the Hokage mountain – in particular, sitting on the Yondaime's sculpting – looking out at Konoha, the city he loved with all his heart, the city he wanted to be acknowledged by, the city he wanted to protect as Hokage. In the distance, beyond the buildings and trees, the sun was setting on the horizon, casting a beautiful orange glow over the still bustling and active city, the day winding down to a close, but the evening too young for its inhabitants to retire for the night. With the descending sun, the heat of the day was going with it. The temperature was warm, yet pleasant, with a cool breeze wafting over him to cool him off. The fresh evening air was soft and refreshing against his skin, and there was a vague scent of oak that lingered in his nose as it passed. Truly, it was a wonderful picture. One of nothing but peace and tranquility.

A spiral appeared in the sun, interconnecting lines webbing inside of it. Arcs spread out of the spiral in haphazard directions, yet with a clear purpose to each of them. They began to form a vague outlining of a sun, with a small "daedric character" etching into the tip of each of them. Slowly, it began to complete. And then it became the "glyph".

Naruto raised his hand, reaching out towards the sun. For just a brief moment, it was as if his fingers brushed against its hot surface. It was as if he could touch it... feel it... _absorb it_.

Then, everything began to burn.

Snapping his eyes open, Naruto found himself back in the Guild of Mages in Balmora, the scenic view of Konoha gone and the flames with it. Except the flames didn't leave. Not completely. Naruto let out a shout of alarm, his entire right hand and forearm being covered in flames. "Hot, hot, HOT!"

Naruto tried - in vain - to pat his arm down with his left hand only to realize several seconds later that _both arms were on fire_, and he was just making the whole thing _worse_. When shock at the fact both hands were on fire took hold of him, his brain struggled to figure out what was going on instead of just relying on base instinct. Then ever so slowly his brain realized there was no pain coming from his seemingly burning hands. There was no heat, no searing pain, no blistering skin. Nothing. "Wha-?" And then, just like that, the fires disappeared, leaving Nartuo especially confused.

"Stupid boy." Neeshka sighed heavily, looking at Naruto as if he were an idiot. "The fire you make cannot harm you, because it is made out of _your_ energy." Then, she paused, raising a hand to cup her small snout, "However... you created more fire than is the normal for a novice level spell. It appears that your lack of brain power is made up for by having absurd amounts of magicka – far more than the average person."

"O-oy!" Naruto sputtered, offended. He deflated some when he heard Sakura snickering. "I managed to do it, at least!"

"After ludicrous amounts of concentration. It should be something you can do on a whim when at peace, not something you have to focus on for minutes at a time." Neeshka said harshly. "However, we do not have time for these pleasantries. You will practice until you can call upon it easily, then we will leave. Your teacher won't have the time to spare for you to properly learn these techniques." Neeshka picked up several books containing various 'spells' and 'glyphs', handing them to Naruto. "Keep them, for I have no more use for them. Study them at a later date. Learn to not be a fool, if at all possible."

Naruto's face twisted into one of distaste, but he held his tongue. Kakashi took priority over any insults he might be subjugated to at this point. He could get insulted at a later time. "How much longer should I practice for?"

"Until you are capable of releasing the fire as your friend managed." Neeshka said. "While they may not be powerful, they will be invaluable spells to know regardless."

"Alright." Naruto grunted, shoving the spell books into his pack before he started to concentrate again. Once again, he imagined himself on the Hokage Monument, looking out at the village of Konohagakure, and then-

His thoughts were overtaken by a mass of shadow with yellow eyes stalking towards him, its large form looming over him before total darkness absorbed him. His eyes shot open, his neck snapping his head towards the exit. The action drew the attention of Sakura and Neeshka alike.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked in confusion, only for a dawning to hit her, horror spreading across her face. "Don't tell me that..."

"Two of the clones watching Sasuke just dispelled." Naruto whispered, eyes never leaving the exit. "There was something... something _dark _that did it." His eyes widened again, and he said, "And another one just went pop!"

"What are you babbling about, boy?" Neeshka demanded, walking over to the two with narrowed eyes. "Are you implying you gain the memories of your duplicates?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, clearly distracted, "and several of the ones I had watching Sasuke just dispelled! I gotta go over there!"

"Wait," Neeshka cut in sharply, "there is another one of you? And you left them _alone_?! How foolish are you two?!"

"I didn't _want_ to leave him alone!" Naruto snapped, _finally _looking at something other than the exit. Glaring heatedly at Neeshka, he said, "He just wouldn't come with us because he's an selfish idiot!"

"Truly, you are _all_ kings of idiocy!" Neeshka snapped before calming herself down. "Very well, then. We shall go find your 'friend', and ensure his safety. Perhaps we might find a clue where your teacher might be from what has appeared. Come, we have no time to waste! I will shield you from the rain!"

They left the Guild of Mages quickly, Neehska humming for just a moment under the awning. From her hands came an enormous bubble that encased the three, shielding them from the winds and rain, while also providing them with light. They moved fairly quickly, and beyond the light of the bubble, Naruto and Sakura could see moving shadows slithering up and down the street, shying away from the illumination of the bubble.

"Boss!" A cry resounded over the rain and thunder, a small orange blip running towards them in the distance. "Booossss~!"

"Oy!" Naruto called out to his clone, noticing that he had his arms wrapped around something. The clone stumbled a bit, before entering the bubble. "What the..." Naruto looked around the clone, past the clone, and then around the entire area. "Wha... where's Sasuke!?"

"He got caught, boss!" The clone said grimly, "The shadows got to him! I didn't want to just leave like that, but he told me to get the scroll to you!" With that said, the clone handed Naruto the scroll. "I don't know what the thing was, but it like... sucked him up into darkness or something! Sorry, boss..." Naruto shook his head, dispelling the clone and receiving the memories of seeing Sasuke getting dragged into the shifting shadows. He cursed a little, only to stop when he noticed two yellow eyes staring at him from the darkness.

"They are known as Sleepers." Neeshka commented lightly, staring at the pair of eyes in turn. "Daedric servants of Vaermina that implant nightmares into those that sleep. If they were what got to the boy, no doubt they dragged him into the nightmare realm of Quagmire."

"Quagmire...?" Sakura repeated, frowning. "But... isn't that like, a bog?"

"Typically, yes. But the worst of bogs would be vastly preferred to the realm of Quagmire." Neeshka said, only to stop when the shadows – the Sleepers - began to merge together and get closer to the bubble. Hissing, Neeshka started to backpedal, Naruto and Sakura doing the same. "We must get back to the Guild of Mages, and quickly! They are growing in strength, and soon they will not be deterred by the light of my magick!"

"Gotcha!" Naruto tucked the sealing scroll under his arm, clinging to it so he wouldn't lose it.

As they ran, the shadows definitely grew stronger, and even began to assault the defensive bubble they were in, obviously straining Neeshka's concentration. It, however, managed to hold as they reached the "Guild of Mages". Neeshka was the first inside, bursting through the door hastily, Sakura and Naruto following as quickly as they could. Once they were well inside, Neeshka slammed the door shut and bolted it shut, backing away tenatively. After a moment, the door thudded, thin tendrils of shadows slithering in between the cracks and holes of the door's archway. Though they writhed about, looking as if they were trying to grasp onto something, they eventually evaporated like mist the further they neared the soft candlelight. Eventually, the shadows stopped entirely, and it was only then that Neeshka seemed to relax.

"We should be safe in here for the time being." Neeshka said, breathing a sigh of relief. "The lights here are more than just simple candlelight. It should be enough to deter them."

"Is that... is that what took Sasuke-kun...? And Kakashi-sensei...?" Sakura asked, gasping for air after their short run.

"More than likely taken by them as well." Neeshka said. "If that is the case, our only hope to rescue your friends is to enter the nightmare realm, Quagmire, itself and traverse its horrors to find them."

Both Naruto and Sakura's mouth dropped open in shock. "W-what?!" Naruto sputtered. "You mean, we have to go in a place that's crawling with those things?!"

"Isn't that super dangerous?!" Sakura agreed, looking at Neeshka with wide eyes.

"Mortally so. It is beyond simply dangerous, and more akin to throwing one's life away." Neeshka said grimly. "However, there is little choice in the matter. Not unless you want to leave your two companions behind."

Naruto's mouth snapped shut with a click, and his shock melted away, replaced with nothing but stoic determination. "How do we get there?" Was all he asked, and Sakura's head snapped to look at him, her expression showing just how crazy she thought it was.

"Naruto! Think about it for a second! If we go in there, we might-"

"I know!" Naruto cut her off, turning to look at her. Sakura flinched at the serious look on his face, growing completely silent. "But it's my fault Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke are in this mess! I'm not going to turn my back on them, even if there's a chance I could end up stuck there too! Never!"

Sakura swallowed thickly, nodding her head. Though she was terrified of the notion of being stuck in nightmares for the rest of eternity, she knew that there was nothing she could say to deter Naruto from going there to rescue the rest of their team, and she was stuck in the middle of his decision. If she went, there was a chance she'd get stuck in the nightmares. If she didn't, those shadows would probably get her. It was a catch 22, and there was no way out.

Not to mention, she wouldn't forgive herself if the rest of them were stuck in nightmares, but she wasn't.

"R-right..." she said shakily, "let's go get them back, then."

Naruto nodded his head determinedly, and the two looked to Neeshka who had simply watched them in silence. "How do we get to 'Quagmire'?"

* * *

_A/N: __S__ome things.__ Neeshka and the "Sleepers" are both creations of mine. Neeshka is just a khajiit wizard of sorts, and was created because I needed someone to __exposit and give the genin a hand(since there's no way for them to reasonably figure out the whole issue without someone guiding them) __with some other things in mind__. She's fairly quick on the uptake, and with a fairly good reason that you may already be able to guess__. The Sleepers are a generic __looking__ shadowy creature, but __there's __currently no known__ Daedra that serve under Vaermina, and __I felt __a shadowy creature__ was semi-appropriate since one of the most common night-terrors__(the worse form of nightmares)__ consists of the 'Shadow People' __that range from shapeless figures to fedora wearing dudes__. __Rather than being a combination of fatigue, eye-adjustment, and darkness like in the real world, shadow people in the Elder Scrolls(or my take on it) are these Daedric 'Sleepers' that were coming to implant nightmares into their mind(which are __canonically__ said to be caused by Vaermina __in the Elder Scrolls universe__). So there you go._

_The first part of the __Sasuke scene was hard for me, __since I wasn't totally sure __what__ I wanted to do with it__. __I don't think, at his current stage(ie, right after the Land of Waves), he'd actually go through with the attempt of using the technique by himself, let alone focus on learning it. Right now, he's just angry and confused, and having the double team of Naruto and Sakura(who I __**do**__ think can get beyond her obsession with him enough to realize he's being a self-centered idiot, even at this stage) just made him more conflicted. He is still a twelve year old kid, very immature, emotionally challenged, and is going through the wonders __and joys __of puberty; he's going to have some __outbursts._

_As for Naruto and Sakura learning some magic, it's very basic Elder Scrolls magic(basically the 'Novice' level spells that are good for two minutes in the games before becoming mediocre, but you still use because they use practically no magic) that everyone can seemingly use, so don't expect them to become spell masters with this stuff._

_Until next time. Ja ne._


	8. W2, C4: Quagmire

_Chapter Title: __Quagmire_

_Words:_ 7269

_Series:_ Naruto, Elder Scrolls

* * *

Quagmire, the Realm of Nightmares, the Daedric Prince Vaermina's personal plane of Oblivion. In this Realm of Nightmares, the horrors constantly shift from one of the unlucky souls trapped inside to anothers. Named Quagmire for its "neutral" state that shares a vague similarity to the bogs of Mundus, though far more horrific in appearance. Plants of Daedric origin grow throughout the mire, and these plants secrete a black ichor that contain strong hallucinogens amongst other properties. This ichor is what both gives Quagmire its bog like appearance, as well as what is largely responsible for the nightmares seen. The ichor is highly prized by alchemists of Mundus, but obtaining it is highly dangerous.

To enter Quagmire, one must be of a sufficiently strong will. They must be capable of shrugging off any nightmarish image they might see, and they must also acknowledge the fact that they may well lose their life. Naturally, there are few individuals capable of claiming this. Even then, they will scarcely be prepared for what lays in wait for them. No matter how prepared one thinks they are, one cannot prepare for the horrors of Quagmire.

In the midst of the tar somewhere in Quagmire, two pointed, black pillars rose up. Their ascension was positioned into an arc, the two points just shy of touching. With a spark of electricity, a purple sheen appeared inside the archway, and moments after, three people stepped out. They were, of course, Naruto, Sakura and Neeshka. Their entrance was shaky, the tar-like substance they found themselves standing on giving under them more than they were expecting.

Behind them, the archway – the portal – that allowed them to enter the Realm of Vaermina shut behind them with a sound akin to a shriek, the two black pillars that had been erected by magic disintegrating into nothing but dust, leaving behind no trace it had ever been there.

"This is Vaermina's Plane of Oblivion." Neeshka's voice spoke from somewhere in the darkness that surrounded Naruto's eyes, and he was unable to pin-point her exact location, only that she was in front of him. "Quagmire, the realm of _all_ nightmares, the realm of horrors. Keep hold of the rope, never once let it go, and follow me."

Naruto nodded his head, before asking the most important question at the moment. "Do we have to be blind?" He knew they were not permanently blind, but the experience was unsettling and disorienting all the same.

"It is not necessary, no, but it will lessen the nightmares considerably. The land of Quagmire are constantly shifting to represent a fear of one of its inhabitants – usually a soul damned for making a deal with Vaermina – and outsiders are just as prone to seeing them as its inhabitants. If we cannot _see_ the nightmares, the effect will be lessened considerably."

"But we can still hear it, right?" Sakura asked quietly, her voice coming from somewhere behind Naruto where he assumed she was following along with the rope.

"We can still hear it, we can still feel it, we can still smell it, we can still taste it... but we cannot see it. Not through our eyes, at least. Our mind's eye may still interpret it, but fear in our mind's eye is less than confirming the fear with our own two eyes. Our eye's will only serve to trick and fool us. In this constantly shifting nightmare, they are our worst enemy. That is why we must be blind."

Well, Naruto still couldn't help but feel monumentally annoyed at being blind. It was like when you woke up in the dead of night and had to go pee – you couldn't see a damned thing, and no matter how slow you might try to walk, you would inevitably stub your toe on something. At least he hadn't stubbed his toe on something _just_ yet. Certainly felt like he could, what with all the mushy grossness he was stepping through.

"How are we going to find Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun if we can't see anything?" Sakura asked, and it was a good question, one Naruto hadn't thought of but made a whole lotta sense to him! "And how do we know what we _do _find is actually them, and not something out of our minds?"

Neeshka made a lightly scoffing sound at the question. "Why do you think I asked if you had a possession of the two taken here? I gleamed their life energy from the items, and will be using that energy as a beacon to find the two."

"Whoa! You can do that?!" Naruto asked excitedly. "Cool!"

"Yes, 'cool'. Now be quiet, boy!" Neeshka snapped. "The more you talk, the more likely Vaermina is to find us!"

"_As if I __hadn't noticed you the moment you entered into my realm__, silly Khajiit._" A voice spoke in a melodic whisper, the sound coming directly from inside Naruto's head and felt as though it were reverberating inside his brain. "_You have entered my very own __personal __realm, and __yet __you thought I wouldn't __manage to __notice intruders? Me? An omnipotent being? __A 'Daedric Prince' as __you mortals call me?__I'm unsure whether to laugh __at the stupidity of __your feeble mortal minds__,__ or be confounded by __how low __mortal __intelligence can truly go__._"

Naruto wasn't sure what was going on all that well, but what he _did_ know was that he was getting the creeps from the voice in his head. The heebie-jeebies to the extreme. Chills all the way down his spine, just from a single voice that bounced around in his head. What the heck was going on, now?

"_You would __even__ go so far as to __cut__ yourself __off from__ vision? Oh you poor, miserable cretins! Deluding yourself into believing it will __actually __help __against the horrors of your own nightmares__?! __If not so amusing, I would find it saddening__!_"

Naruto felt something strange happening around him, and he heard Neeshka start shouting something, but he barely heard it in the wake of his body rocking back and forth. It felt as if something was tugging on his arms and legs, and before he knew it, his hands let go of the rope.

"_Come, let us enjoy the fear!_"

All of a sudden, Naruto heard a crash of thunder rumbling in his ears, and with it somehow came his vision once again. Disoriented, he stumbled through wet grass – where had that come from? - and tried to gather his bearings, his head pounding as his senses began to return to him. His eyes began to adjust to his surroundings, the blinding light that had been there before fading to give way to colors and shapes, meshing and molding themselves together until slowly, he began to see clearly.

What he saw, he wished he hadn't.

"S-sakura-chan! K-kakashi-sensei, Sasuke!" Naruto stared in opened mouthed horror at the scene before him. Everything was covered in an extremely thick mist - not unlike Zabuza's mist technique - and it made it difficult for Naruto to see, especially in his disorientation at his sight returning... but there was one he could see with perfect clarity. His entire team was spread across the ground right at his feet, their bodies torn to shreds, their innards and entrails lining the ground and painting the green grass an awful red.

There were more than just them, however. Beyond their corpses, Naruto saw several more lying mutilated on the ground. A barely recognizable Iruka lay still on the ground, his chest and stomach torn open, the man staring up at the sky with completely empty eyes. To the right was the heavily disfigured body of Konohamaru, the corpse of the boy's only recognizable feature being the partly intact scarf that was covered in his blood.

Then, something in the mist moved beyond even their bodies, and Naruto's eyes glanced up to lock onto a pair of glowing white eyes, with a matching, gaping mouth. Its body was black as night, a red mist surrounding it. It was tall, thin, but very apparently muscular, having defined naked arms and legs. It stood on two feet, but its hands looked like that of clawed paws. Four tails danced around behind itself, and in its right hand was the head of the Hokage – Sarutobi Hiruzen – who's limp body was being dragged along behind the beast. The mist seemed to be wrapping itself around the creature, and every breath it took seemed to create a thicker mist.

Just by looking at the creature, Naruto felt himself paralyzed on the spot. Even worse that seeing it was realizing exactly what the creature was.

It was him. It was him possessed by the Kyuubi's evil chakra. And while possessed, he had killed his entire team, kill all those who were close to him. He tore them to shreds and now stood over their bodies in some twisted sense of victory.

"_Fear, it is an interesting thing, is it not? How it brings you mortals to your knees, trembling, crying, and unable to so much as __even __move. __There are those who are so severely hampered by their inner fear__that they fear that which they cannot see, that which might not even exist... and there are others, others who fear nothing and ignorantly live in complete peace. But they too can fear. __**Everyone **__can fear. There is nothing that cannot fear. Some fear everything but themselves. Some fear only themselves. N__o matter how '__fearless__' one of you mortals are, you always fear __**something**__. Those fears, those __**nightmares**__ truly __warm me to the core!_"

The voice was back, but Naruto could hardly register it in the face of the Kyuubi. His mind was completely and utterly focused on the figure that was most definitely him. A him corrupted by the Kyuubi's influence, a him that was truly the monster the villagers thought he was, whispered about, the one that they feared would kill all of Konoha. The demon that Iruka had told him he wasn't, but had - deep down - feared he truly was.

Naruto reflexively took a step back when the four-tailed – no, a fifth tail began to grow out of its back – beast took a step forward. Its mouth opened wider, chakra beginning to form right outside it. Naruto could feel tears stinging at his eyes, and he desperately tried to move away, but his feet were rooted in the spot.

He was going to die.

He was going to die at the hands of _himself_.

"**Your arrogance astounds me, ****annoying ****little ****snot****.**" A new, unrecognizable voice growled in Naruto's mind, just as the other had, but this one was deeper, darker, and raspier in tone than the previous. The moment Naruto heard it, everything seemed to grind to a halt around him. "**Do not presume **_**all **_**are susceptible to fear, nightmare '**_**god**_**'!**"

Then, with a flash of lightning, everything was gone.

Gone was the mist polluting the air and the wet grass beneath his feet, and replacing it was a thick black smog – its foul smell being sulfurous in nature – and a black, tar like goo bubbling under – and _over – _his feet. The five tailed demon, thankfully, was no longer around, but it left Naruto completely confused.

"What the..." Naruto gasped for air as he looked around in surprise at the sudden change, his body once again capable of moving. He looked desperately for his team – and for Neeshka, he realized belatedly – to confirm if they were truly deceased, and found nothing but the same scenery of gross... bog-ishness. They weren't anywhere to be seen... did that mean that had all been just a dream?

The voices from before weren't speaking in his head anymore, but there was one thing Naruto could confirm... he wasn't alone in this place. The feeling of dozens upon dozens of eyes watching his every movement was prickling the back of his neck something fierce, enough to make him shudder from their gaze.

Naruto couldn't afford to dawdle, as he now realized the situation he was in. He was alone(as far as he could tell) in a place of 'fear' and 'nightmare', and considering what had just happened to him, he fully believed that was 100% the case here. That wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination, and frankly Naruto wished he could get the hell out of dodge, but... well, for one thing, he didn't know _how _to leave this place, but there was another _huge_ problem.

He had to find his team. The question that sprung to mind was _how_? Without Neeshka guiding him, he had no way of knowing where anyone was, and the rope they had hoped would allow them to keep themselves connected to one another was long gone.

In this situation, there was only one answer for Naruto. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutstu_!" Nearly three dozen clones of Naruto popped into existence, their form seeming slightly browner tinged than normal – the smog seemed to be affecting them – but they were as solid as ever and no worse for wear. With a simple, unintelligible shout, the clones all began running off in different directions, their goal to find someone – anyone – in this hell.

There was no guarantee that they'd find anyone this way, but dammit he'd give it a shot!

While his clones searched for his missing team, Naruto had a couple keep an eye out around him as he more carefully searched the area. It had felt like he hadn't moved one bit since the voice had entered his mind, so perhaps Neeshka and Sakura were around? Hopefully? He doubted that the image he saw – the one of Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke spread messily across the ground – was a real one, but there was no guarantee that they weren't around regardless. It was possible they were merely invisible to him, but still there... well, maybe. Naruto wasn't sure how this place worked, but there was always the possibility!

Where ever they were, Naruto would find them. And when he did, he would break them out of their nightmare – if they were in one – like he had somehow done with himself.

How had he done that, anyway?

His thoughts of how he had broken free from the nightmare were subsequently broken by one of his clones. "Uh, boss?" One of them asked, clearly nervous by the tone of his voice.

"What?" Naruto glanced up from the ground to look at what the clone was gesturing to. Upon sighting it, Naruto paled. A slithering mass of black was inching its way towards him, a pair of gleaming yellow eyes looking up at him. This creature was the same kind that had been in the inn. The one that he had seen drag Sasuke into itself.

To make matters worse? More and more pairs of varying colored eyes were appearing out of thin air, and soon he was surrounded on all sides by the creatures, the entire bog covered by nothing but shadow with gleaming little eyes glaring at him..

Gulping, Naruto and his clones backed themselves against one another, trying not to freak out. "W-what should we do, boss?"

"Uh..." frankly, Naruto didn't know. He could try throwing Kunai at it, but to be honest, Naruto somehow doubted it'd work – and he could more or less confirm that with how his clones kunai passed through it at the inn - which meant he didn't want to pointlessly waste his few kunai on the stupid things if they'd just pass harmlessly through its body, and do absolutely nothing to deter it. If anything, it was likely only capable of being hurt by some sort of ninjutsu like Kakashi's lightning hand thing, since only fire from that sword and Sasuke's fireball had seemed to hurt it before, but unfortunately, he had nothing like them.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, Naruto recalled the fire magic that he had learned from Neeshka. How did it go again...? Focus? Some sort of glyphy thing? Uh... flames? Er... sun? "Crap!" Naruto shut his eyes tightly, trying to picture himself sitting on top of the Hokage monument again, but all he could think about at the moment was the times he painted(vandalized) it. And as funny as the thought was to him even now, it wasn't the time to start laughing.

"I got it, boss!" One of the clones said, his hands burning with a bright red flame. As he looked between his hands and the shadow, the clone turned to Naruto with a clueless expression on his face. "What do I do with it?!" Naruto himself had no answer to that question, since he hadn't a clue what to do with the flames. He had only ever gotten as far as forming the flame, never anything _past _that!

"Uh! Hit it like Kakashi-sensei does with his lightning thingie!" Another clone suggested, and then went and grabbed the arm of the flaming clone and thrust it towards the Sleeper. Rather than do any sort of damage, the clone burst in a pop of smog, doing absolutely nothing to the Sleeper.

"What'd you go and do that for?!" The real Naruto asked irritably. "He actually did it!"

"Sorry, boss! I panick-AGH!" the clone popped out of existence, the sleeper having grabbed hold of him and dragged him to the floor.

Naruto cursed loudly - and in many different ways - _especially_ when he noticed at least a dozen more of the damned Sleepers crawling around. "We should make a run for it!" The last remaining clone said, and Naruto agreed wholeheartedly. They took off running without so much as a 'go', barreling over and through the Sleepers as fast as they could. "Aaahhh-" a pop followed the start of a scream, Naruto's only remaining clone having been grabbed by a Sleeper, the impact with the ground causing it to dispel.

That didn't make Naruto happy in the slightest. If his clone was able to be grabbed, that meant Naruto himself was able to be grabbed, and that was _no good_.

As if his life depended on it – and it most certainly did – Naruto pumped his legs as hard as he could, charging through the creepy Sleepers and the gross tar like substance with renewed vigor. He had no idea where he was going, but there was one thing he did know... he was scared _and _pissed off at the same time. And when Naruto got pissed off, his ire was generally directed at one person(and he felt it justified in this situation).

"GOD DAMMIT, _SASSUUUKEEEEE-_" Naruto yelled as he ran, stopping only when a bolt of lightning lit up his vision, its thunder crashing loudly instantaneously, its sound deafening with its proximity.

Then, when the temporary blindness of having lightning flash right in front of his face faded, everything had changed with it. Naruto no longer found himself running through a gross, tar-like bog, but a place he recognized, but did not remember. Naruto found himself running through a dirt street in Konoha, but a street he did not recognize off the top of his head(Konoha was big, and even he hadn't been everywhere in the city). However, its sudden appearance had him confused, and Naruto came to a stumbling stop. One thing he noticed was that the Sleepers were no longer crawling about, but something at the back of his mind told him they were still around, just invisible to his eye.

With a shake of his head, Naruto tried to figure out what had happened, and why he was now running through Konoha. Or at least what _looked _like Konoha. He knew it wasn't, obviously, but it still confused him. Naruto was fairly sure that the lightning/thunder had caused the shift in environment, but he hadn't a clue as to _why_.

Of course, one of the first things he noticed about the new location was that there was a particularly strong and familiar smell. It wasn't a good smell, either. It was the smell of blood, and lots of it. The smell of blood was one he knew intimately, now, as he had smelled it in loads on more than one occasion. If he was smelling blood, that wasn't good. Smelling blood was _never _a good thing.

Unsure of what was going on, Naruto nervously began to walk through the darkened, creepy streets of some place in Konoha, wondering just what on earth was going on. It was only after some minutes of walking that he found the source of the smell. There were dozens – literally _dozens_ – of corpses littering the ground, their blood pooling under them, pouring out from large gashes that may have been made with a sword. Weirder than all that, however, was the fact Naruto recognized something that adorned their clothing.

The Uchiha Clan's Emblem.

Shocked, the gears in Naruto's mind began to grind, memories and recollections coming to the forefront.

That's right... Naruto remembered seeing a bunch of people with the Uchiha Clan Emblem, and in fact they were among the first to start tracking him down once he started his prankster days, being the Police and all. The thing about it though was that he never really associated it being related to Sasuke. Naruto hadn't met Sasuke until the Academy, and the first time he had noticed the other boy, he just knew that Sasuke was an orphan like him.

But, thinking about it now, he realized that the guys with the Uchiha Fan in the Police were from the same clan as Sasuke... and Naruto remembered that the entire Uchiha Clan was wiped out by one of its own members, and it seemed Sasuke was the sole survivor.

If all his facts lined up... did that mean he had actually entered _Sasuke's _nightmare?

Naruto had no idea _how_ that would be possible, but he wasn't about to question it if Sasuke was actually here. Ignoring the corpses, Naruto charged down the street, glancing every which way, calling out "Sasuke!" repeatedly.

He never got an answer to the name, but he did hear a loud, terrified sounding scream in the distance. Immediately breaking into a run, Naruto zipped through the streets before making it to the location where the scream came from.

There was nothing in the streets, but Naruto knew the scream had come from inside the building he was currently standing outside of. It was a _big_ building, and Naruto assumed it to be some sort of estate. Kinda like the Third's personal estate that he visited a few times when he was younger. Except, he supposed, this would be the Uchiha Clan's Estate?

At the moment, that didn't matter. Forgoing any sort of tact, Naruto burst into the estate and tried to track the scream down. He didn't hear anything that would give the location away, but as he ran through the many hallways, he heard something coming from one room with a pair of sliding doors. Bursting into the room with all the grace of an elephant, Naruto saw a scene he hadn't quite expected.

Lying near his feet were two corpses, one a man, the other a woman. They each had large gashes on their back, expressions frozen in pain and terror. Standing just beyond their corpses was a figure, a decent amount taller than Naruto was, carrying a blood stained sword in his right hand.

Past him, however, Naruto saw a familiar figure... or rather, a figure with familiar hair. It was dark, and Naruto could only make out the general shape of the figure, but lying thereon the ground, staring up at the figure with the sword, was Sasuke. "Sasuke!" Forgetting all about the situation, Naruto moved around the body and still looming figure to reach Sasuke's side, and when he did, Naruto noticed something very off.

Sasuke had shrunken _considerably_.

After squawking in surprise, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, Naruto tried to process what was going on. It was then that he noticed Sasuke was paying him no attention, and instead, his attention – his fearful attention – was focused _entirely _on the figure standing in between Sasuke and the two corpses. Turning to look at the figure, Naruto's jaw fell open and stayed open.

The figure, who was wearing full ANBU gear, looked _just like_ Sasuke, except he had far sharper and more defined cheeks than Sasuke. Well, there were some other differences, of course, but in Naruto's mind – and in the darkness – all he could see was Sasuke with sharp cheeks. It didn't help that both his eyes gleamed red, spinning with three tomoe in them. Naruto vaguely wondered if they were _brothers_.

His thoughts were cut off when the man began to stalk forward with his attention focused entirely on Sasuke. Sasuke started to scramble then, pushing himself away from the man with the bloodied sword. Finally realizing the situation, Naruto frowned deeply, glaring at the man. Whoever this guy was, if his goal was to try to kill Sasuke, he wouldn't stand for it!

"Oy! Don't you dare touch Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, forgoing any sort of tactic and charging straight at the man. With a kunai in hand, he swung at the man, and it was only then that the man seemed to acknowledge Naruto's presence. Blocking the kunai with ridiculous ease, two narrowed, angry Sharingan bored into Naruto's own eyes. Unable to help himself, Naruto shuddered, the feeling of an electric shock running down his spine. There was something in the man's eyes... something Naruto couldn't explain, but made him fear for his life.

Reflexively, he leapt back, putting as much distance between himself and the man as possible. It was only at the distance that Naruto started to feel the fear fade, and with it, the man's focus. Instead of glaring at Naruto, the man turned his attention back to Sasuke, who had backed himself against a wall and was shaking with fear.

Finding himself extremely confused by the whole situation, as well as fearless yet again, Naruto narrowed his eyes at the dark figure with the sword. "Hey! I'm your opponent!" Naruto called out right before rushing the man again. Instead of trying to attack the man with a kunai, Naruto decided to try to tackle him.

Naruto slammed into the side of the man, and like trying to attack a brick wall, the attack completely failed with _him _being the one injured. "Ouc... h..." Naruto trailed off, the fear returning as he stared up at irritated Sharingan.

"_You do not belong here._" The man said in a low, deep voice, and his sword arm rose with the obvious intention of attacking.

Leaping away from the man, Naruto watched as the sword arm fell back to his side, his attention turning back to Sasuke.

Okay... what the hell.

Thoroughly confused, Naruto tried to piece together what the heck was going on. At this point, Naruto was certain that he was stuck in Sasuke's nightmare here in the Nightmare Realm. What the man said to Naruto when he touched him made sense, then. He wasn't supposed to be in Sasuke's nightmare, and because of that, he went unnoticed by the man and Sasuke... yet, it seemed that, if Naruto was touching the man, the man would notice him. If he _wasn't_ touching the man, the man would forget about him and turn his attention back to Sasuke.

Deciding to confirm his theory, Naruto walked over to the man – feeling completely fearless – and reached out to grab the man's arm.

Almost immediately, a sword shot through his stomach, before being painfully pulled out.

Stumbling backwards, Naruto clutched the wound, feeling blood beginning to rise up his throat. "Shit...!" Naruto sputtered, speckles of blood flying from his mouth. Despite the pain, he could only think of something Iruka-sensei once told him in regards to _Sasuke_ that he had thought was funny at the time: "don't poke the sleeping tiger too many times or it'll bite your finger off."

Apparently, Naruto poked _this_ sleeping tiger one too many times, and instead of biting his finger off, it had stabbed him.

Collapsing onto his knees, Naruto was on the verge of unconsciousness, and struggled to remain awake. He watched in helpless horror as the man finally reached the completely frozen Sasuke. Slamming a foot against the younger boy's stomach, the man cocked his sword back. "_Goodbye_, _little brother_." The man said without a single inflection of emotion in his voice. Sasuke struggled to get away, tears running down his face, but the man's strength was too much, and the sword was thrust forward.

"_**SASUKE!**_"

* * *

A heavy blow impacted with his stomach, further agitating his injured throat and lungs, blood rising into his mouth and dripping out of his parted lips. His body hit the ground hard, the air being knocked from his lungs, along with more blood. Despite the pain and discomfort he felt, he showed no signs of acknowledging it. He did not scream, he did not cry, he did not even so much as groan. Showing such obvious signs of pain... he had no right. Every single blow, every single injury he received, he believed he deserved.

After all, he was just a piece of trash.

"_It isn_'_t nice_, _is it_, _Kakashi_?" The sweet voice of Rin asked, squatting down besides him. "_To have your own teammate hurt you_? _To have someone you trust your life with to turn their back on you_?"

Kakashi said nothing, simply staring up at Rin with his lone eye. There, in her chest, was a large open cavity where his _Chidori _had pierced through her heart. The wound was cauterized from the heat of the attack, and the size of the wound showed that the entire heart had been reduced to ash from the destructive capabilities of the Lightning ninjutsu. More than just her heart had been hit, a small opening having been made in her left lung, and with every breath Rin inhaled and exhaled, the wound shook and bled with it.

Rin was, without a doubt, Kakashi's biggest and most personal regret. Her death had all come down to his own weakness, his own inability to stop himself from piercing her heart with the _Chidori._ That was the inherent flaw to his powerful technique. The "all or nothing" full frontal assault that results in tunnel vision, with absolutely no real way to stop himself once he got going.

He was supposed to protect her, no matter what happened to her. Her being brain washed by the Mist and forced to become jinchuuriki in order to destroy the Leaf wouldn't stop him from protecting her with his life.

Instead, he killed her. Inadvertently as it had been, but it never felt that way to him. Not when he could still remember the feeling of plunging his _Chidori_ covered hand into her chest, or the feeling of horror, regret and sadness as he saw the life drain from her face in a matter of seconds.

He almost followed his father shortly after the fact, but he had been too much of a coward to do it. It was something he would often find himself inching towards so many times after that... but he still lived. Still lived for Minato... still lived for Kushina... then he lost them, too. He would have ended it then, had it not been for the consistent missions of ANBU... but it probably would have been better... better if he _had _killed himself.

"_Killing yourself would be too easy_, _Kakashi_~" Rin said sweetly, even as she impaled his arm into the ground with a long katana. "_You deserve much worse_. _You_'_ve outlived so many people who deserved to __live_, _your death at your own hands would be too good for you_."

Kakashi couldn't – wouldn't – deny that. He had thought it too many times. That sense of self-loathing of someone suffering survivor's guilt, the self-destructive thoughts that it could easily lead into.

Stewing in these thoughts as Rin impaled his other arm, Kakashi became briefly aware of a small, miniscule gasp to the left. Turning his head to look at the sudden, unexpected sound, he locked his sole black eye with a pair of wide green ones. Strange... he felt a familiarity in the eyes, the face, the pink hair, but it felt as though there was a haze clouding his mind, preventing him from recognizing the girl.

"K-kakashi-sensei!" The girl sputtered, her eyes snapping up to look at Rin, who seemed oblivious to the girl's presence, and she recoiled on seeing the gaping hole in Rin's chest.

But, before his very eyes, she hardened her resolve, and lifted her hands. Flames came to life around the palms of her hands, and soon it was spraying out of them and towards Rin. Immediately, the flames took to Rin, setting her alight. She let out a pained cry, recoiling backwards, away from Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The pink haired girl said again, kneeling down next to him and glancing between his numerous wounds and his limbs that were impaled into the ground. "I... I'll get you out of here!"

The katana's impaled into his arms were yanked out of his limbs, causing Kakashi to wince slightly in pain as the wounds became even worse than they had been. He couldn't quite feel his arms anymore, and he doubted he'd be able to use them anytime soon – if ever again. The thought wasn't as horrible to him as he'd expected, once upon a time.

"_You aren_'_t supposed to be here_, _little girlie_..." Rin's voice said in a horrifyingly dark voice that Kakashi had never heard from his teammate. The pink haired girl looked up in alarm at the sudden voice, and Kakashi himself tilted his head to look at Rin. Her body had been burnt considerably, and her face was almost unrecognizable from the severe burns she suffered. "_But if you_'_re here_, _I_'_ll drag you into the nightmare with him_!"

Water began to flow around Rin, rising up from the ground like a snake before it rushed at the pink haired girl. She let out a scream, trying to move out of the way, but was far too slow to get out of the way in time. The water submerged her, weighing her body down against ground, slowly crushing her. She very clearly screamed, but there was no sound, the water quite literally drowning it out.

Kakashi felt something bubble up in his chest, an indescribable fear, one that reached deep into his stomach and rang dozens of alarm bells in his head. Slowly, as he watched the girl struggle to cough water out of her lungs as the chakra controlled water receded, his mind started to whirl, the haze beginning to clear.

Flames came out of the girl's hands, despite her labored breathing, but they were all snuffed out before they could reach Rin. Water surrounded her as she stalked towards the girl, and when she reached her, Rin slammed her foot into the girl's stomach. She let out a scream, one that was cut off when Rin's foot bore down on her throat. "_I know what I_'_ll do with you_!" Rin said cheerfully, turning her head to Kakashi. "_Just like you did to me_... _you_'_ll kill her_, _Ka~ka~shi~_!"

Without even realizing it, Kakashi's body began to move on its own, rising up from the ground and onto both feet. Somehow, against his own will, his chakra began to flow through his body, centralizing itself in his right hand. The _Chidori_ began to crackle in his hand, and his eye locked with the girl that now hung loosely in the air by the neck.

_'No... no... stop this...' _Kakashi's mind struggled against his moving body, but he had already started to move. _'STOP!'_

But it was too late. His hand rammed through her chest, piercing the heart, completely passing through to the other side. Kakashi felt complete horror, and he looked down at _Sakura_ in complete shock.

Sakura, too, was staring up at him in shock, her expression slowly drifting away. "Ka...ka...s..." she never finished, her entire body going limp – dead.

"No... no..." Kakashi whispered hoarsely, feeling his body pull his hand out of her body, but not consciously doing so. "No... Sakura..."

It happened again...

Once again, he killed someone close to him.

He killed his own student, with his own hand.

"No..." Kakashi felt his body give away, whatever force had been holding him up fading. Collapsing to his hands and knees, he choked as he looked at Sakura's lifeless body, his eye feeling incredibly hot as he stared at the gaping hole in her chest.

More than his right eye, his _left_ eye felt as though it were on fire. A searing pain prickling at the eye that no longer existed. Chakra pulsed in the socket where the _Sharingan_ once was, as if it were there, draining his reserves as they always had... but that should be impossible.

"_You_'_ve done it again_, _Ka~ka~shi_! _You killed someone who deserved so much more than you_... _killed one of your students that you swore to protect with your life_. _How does it feel_?"

Kakashi was only vaguely aware of the words of Rin, her voice sounding so garbled and twisted to his ears.

"_Her body is an eyesore __just lying there_, _isn_'_t it_? _Say_, _let_'_s have you dispose of it_!"

He could feel his body begin to move, chakra coursing through it... but he stopped. Something inside of Kakashi snapped, and he fought against the uncontrolled movement to turn his head to look at Rin – the horrible, bastardization of his kind and sweet teammate – an uncontained fury burning in his chest.

"Don't. Touch. _Her_." Kakashi snarled, his vision swimming as something seemed to change. The blackness that he saw with his left eye was replaced by vision once more, and there was a duality in what he saw. His right eye saw Rin standing there against the forest backdrop, while his left saw nothing but a dark shadow that appeared to be vaguely in the shape of Rin, standing in a blackened bog with a dark purple sky that occasionally lit up with lightning above it.

Kakashi didn't have the time to process what was going on, and ever thing he did was acted out on pure instinct. Reflexively, he shut his right eye, allowing himself to focus entirely on what his _Sharingan_ saw. More importantly, he turned his focus to a shadow that was wrapped around his body. It was what was trying to move him, he knew it immediately. Instead of trying to fight it off, he simply _stared_ at the shadow.

And then it began to disappear into a spiraling vortex.

Again, Kakashi had no time to think about how this was possible, and instead simply let it happen. The shadow was gone in no time, and he whipped his head around to stare at the shadow that was masquerading as Rin. It had begun to move towards him, seemingly prepared to attack him, but it too began to be sucked into the vortex, finally disappearing into its nothingness.

With all the shadows gone, Kakashi lost the tunnel vision of focused anger and noticed how labored his breathing had become, and how utterly _exhausted _he felt. It took all he had to not pass out from chakra exhaustion right then and there. Whatever that technique had been, it was ridiculously draining on his reserves.

But there was no time to think about that, and he turned to the corpse of Sakura, only to stop breathing.

The gaping hole in her chest over her heart was gone without a trace. There was no wound, no blood, not even so much as a _tear _in her clothing.

Kakashi couldn't think after seeing that. Couldn't even _feel_. He should have felt relieved, but he was simply too shocked and exhausted to even go that far. It was only his years of training and experience that kept him from just passing out from a combined force of exhaustion and mental and emotional overload.

Instead, his training kicked in and he crawled through a black tar like substance to reach Sakura. The first thing he checked were her vitals, and it was only when he felt the strong, fast beating of her heart that he _finally _felt a sense of relief. However, it soon became one of worry when he noticed that her heart was something close to 120 bpm, and her chakra was fluctuating up and down all over the place. Additionally, despite her eyes being closed, they were moving rapidly from left to right, up to down, and every other direction possible.

Both of those implied some level of mental activity, and Kakashi involuntarily took a sharp breath. His previously slowed mind began to work out the situation, and he realized that if what he had been experiencing was an _illusion_, there was a possibility that Sakura herself was also in an illusion, and that she was _still in one _despite lying there.

"You must be the one they were looking for." A voice purred behind Kakashi, shocking him out of his revere. Whirling to the voice, Kakashi instinctively drew on the power of the Chidori, the hand reaching for a kunai in his pouch. However, he only briefly paused to look at the owner of the voice, and he saw that the one who spoke was a cat-like creature similar to the lizard-like his team had encountered when entering 'Balmora', and it had its hands up in a placating gesture. "Calm yourself, man. I am no enemy of yours."

"How can I be sure of that?" Kakashi rasped out, Sharingan boring into the cat's own eyes.

"I have nothing to prove it to you, other than assurances through my words." The cat admitted, briefly glancing at Sakura. "I came here with the girl and the orange dressed boy with the express goal of getting _you _out... but things did not go quite as planned here in the realm of Quagmire. Unfortunately, that came as no surprise to me." The cat shrugged, and despite the words, Kakashi did not let the Chidori disappear. "However, you managed to break free from Vaermina's Nightmares through conscious effort, a remarkable feat – one many would claim impossible, even. We will need that skill of yours to save the foolish boys that have also been swept into the realm of nightmare."

"Foolish boys...?" Kakashi muttered, only for it to register a moment later. The Chidori raging in his hand fizzled out, and he stared at the cat with wide eyes. "They're here as well...?"

"Yes, the idiot blond boy, Naruto, was with the girl, Sakura, when we entered this realm in search of you and the other boy. I know not much of the other boy, only that he is doubly the fool for deciding to remain alone." The cat shook its head, only for its body to freeze up. Glancing around, the cat's eyes began to narrow. Kakashi likewise looked around, and saw what was causing her ire. Dozens upon dozens of shadows were shifting and moving along the ground, and they were inching their way closer and closer to him and Sakura. "And it appears that in our idling, the Sleepers have awoken..."

* * *

_A/N: Some things about this chapter. __First part of the chapter, the whole bit about Quagmire, is all from me. Quagmire is one of the Daedric realms that has little information about it in the Elder Scrolls, and I felt the need to exposit on my take of it. Relatively brief, but it works, I feel._

_I've, more or less, gone with what I think are the 'nightmares' of the main characters. In Kakashi's case, I feel his 'nightmare' is related to the people who've died, and the massive amount of regret he feels surrounding their deaths. His nightmares are less about actual horror, and more about the psychological pain surrounding his survivor's guilt. It's somewhat loose regarding the definition of nightmare, but it works because Vaermina enjoys psychological torture, not just nightmares/horrors.  
_

_ In Naruto's case, I felt his nightmare would be losing those closest to him, and combined it with the subconscious fear of him being capable of becoming the Kyuubi. Of course, his nightmare was over quickly thanks to the Kyuubi__(who had a reason for butting in)__, __but the point stands._

_ In Sasuke's case, reliving the Uchiha Clan Massacre is his biggest nightmare, as he not only suffered 72 hours of it thanks to the Tsukiyomi, but it's also his biggest moment of 'weakness' to him, and he loathes being weak. Fairly self-explanatory._

_In Sakura's case... I copped out and have no plans of showing it! Haha~!_

_Until next time. Ja ne._


	9. W2, C5: Left Behind

_Chapter Title: _Left Behind_  
_

_Words:_ 7257

_Series:_ Naruto, Elder Scrolls

* * *

In the streets of the Uchiha clan district, he ran desperately, his short legs feeling awfully inadequate in comparison tohis much taller older brother's much longer legs. Sasuke doubted that Itachi even needed those longer legs to catch him, the genius being fast enough to rival Shisui, someone reputed to be the fastest member of the entire Uchiha clan, but to his mind it felt as if it made a whole world of difference.

Of course, the fact he had yet to be caught obviously meant that Itachi was simply _toying_ with him; a cruel, unusual thought he would never have had about his older brother before today. Sasuke could never think of his brother as a kind, gentle man after today... not after today. Not after seeing the corpses of his cousins, his uncles and aunts, and his very own _mother and father_. Not after seeing his brother standing over their corpses, their bodies still bleeding, and the sword used to cut them down dripping with their freshly spilled blood. Not after seeing their eyes bulging in their sockets, holding empty gazes that stared at nothing.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he recalled such horrible thoughts. He wished this was all a dream. A nightmare. One that he'd wake up from in a panic, where his kind, loving, _living_ mother was there at his bedside in a heartbeat to ask him what's wrong, then assure him that it was all just a dream. Where his kind, pacifist brother would kindly tell him he would _never _do such terrible things, and stay by his bedside, reading him his favorite stories until he fell asleep again.

But that was simply asking for too much. He knew it.

This "nightmare" was reality, and his brother had snapped completely, killing off his entire clan without a hint of remorse, and he had done it with absolutely no difficulty. And now, Sasuke was his next, and _last_, target.

"_You can run_,_ little brother_, _but you cannot hide_." Itachi's voice spoke from the darkness, Sasuke searching desperately for the source as he ran, but unable to pinpoint it. The voice had come from somewhere in the dark, but he could not see his brother, and frankly he didn't _want _to see him. Not _that _version of his brother. Not the version that had such empty eyes, not the version that callously cut his own father and mother down without so much as a flicker of emotion, not the version that turned to him with the clear intention to _kill him_.

Nausea started to kick in for Sasuke, and he forced the horrid memories out of his mind.

"OOYY! STOP SAYING THAT, YA BASTARD!" A course, harsh voice spoke out of the blue, or rather shouted. Sasuke threw a shocked and disturbed look over his shoulder at a vaguely familiar blond who was chasing after him with an angry expression on his scrunched up face.

Who in the world...

Sasuke wasn't entirely sure who the other boy was, but he didn't _want _to know. Not when the boy seemed to be chasing him. For all Sasuke knew, the boy was conspiring with the crazed Itachi, or was possibly even an illusion created by Itachi to lull him into a false sense of security.

Admittedly, it seemed odd for Itachi to do something as round about as that, but Sasuke had to remind himself that the Itachi out there hunting him was _not _the Itachi he knew and loved.

Still, even if he _wasn't _an illusion, the fact he was here was worrying. After all, he was in the clan district in the middle of the night, implying he broke in. He wasn't ANBU, which meant he wasn't responding to Itachi's betrayal, and he hardly seemed qualified to be a ninja in general. It just begged the question: where did he come from? Why was he chasing him? Who _was_ he?

Frankly, the sooner Sasuke lost sight of him, the better.

"I am SICK and TIRED of you repeating your god damn lines all the god damn time!"

Okay, what was that about? Sasuke couldn't wrap him head around what the meant, really. Sasuke hadn't heard Itachi say that before, so why was this blond accusing his unseen brother of repeating lines? The notion that they were lines in the first place left Sasuke wondering – _hoping –_ they were just forged lines that Itachi had come up with, and that this was all one big prank. Maybe to 'harden' Sasuke? His father always said that Itachi had been 'hardened' since a young age due to the horrors of war... maybe this was some sort of attempt to harden Sasuke through the horrors of his family being slaughtered – mercilessly – by the older brother he loved dearly?

It was a nice thought, but one he couldn't subscribe to reality. There was absolutely _n__o way_ would their mother agree to _that_.

"Sasukeeeeh!" The blond shouted, the fact he knew his name rattling Sasuke even further. Glancing over his shoulder, Sasuke balked when he realized the blond had gained a lot of distance when Sasuke had started to slow his run while lost in thought, and the older boy was still charging at Sasuke with fiery determination in his eyes. Sasuke shook his head, looking back ahead and breaking back into his full speed run. "STOP RUNNING! I JUST WANT TO TOUCH YOU!"

"You think I'm going to stop after hearing that?!" Sasuke shouted back, eyes widened in alarm. Mother always talked about perverts being where you would least expect them, and how he should never let anyone touch him if he didn't want them to(especially 'down there'), but he hadn't ever imagined he'd encounter such an overt pervert immediately after the massacre of his clan!

"I don't want to touch you like that, stupid!" The blond said, looking aghast at the notion of an inappropriate touch. "I just want to check something!"

"Yeah, and I'm sure it's my _willie_!" Sasuke spat, and the blond stumbled upon hearing the word 'willie', nearly falling over, flat onto his face. He recovered fairly quickly, and was rushing after him again a moment later.

"The last thing I would _ever _want to check out is _your_ 'willie', bastard!" The blond yelled angrily, shaking a fist at Sasuke. The effect was lost, somewhat, as he was distracted by a bright light that flooded the left side of his body. "OH SHIT!" He shouted, bringing his hands together instantly. Two copies of the blond appeared, grabbing onto him and flinging him through the air in the direction of Sasuke. Seconds later, a fireball impacted with the copies, incinerating them instantly, while the original landed roughly a few meters behind Sasuke.

"Shit, that's faster than my running! Why didn't I think of it before?!" The blond complained, but cursed when several kunai impacted with his sides. It slowed him down, but not nearly as much as one would expect when someone got three kunai puncturing their ribs. "Ugh! Those still hurt, ya bastard!"

"_If you do not wish to experience their pain_, _leave_, _for you do not belong here_." Itachi said from somwhere in the dark, his voice unlike anything Sasuke had ever heard from his brother. Just hearing it made him shudder involuntarily.

"Pfft! As if! Once I realized this whole thing was one big illusion, _I have no fear_!" The words 'illusion' registered in Sasuke's mind, but any confusion over it disappeared a moment later when Itachi landed in front of him, Sasuke running head first into his unmoving body. Thrown back on impact, he landed on the ground roughly, letting out a gasp of pain from having landed on his tail bone.

"_Those without fear do not belong here_." Sasuke could only look up in horror as Itachi flew through a set of hand seals. One for a very familiar fireball that would toast him in seconds.

"That rhyme _sucked_!" The blond behind Sasuke said with a laugh, and Sasuke felt something crash into him from behind, two arms wrapped around his body.

And, before Itachi could blow the giant flaming ball of death, he faded away into nothingness. Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction, shocked as everything around him began to fade away. Soon, he found himself lying face down in a black, tar-like substance, something heavy resting on top of him, and something sharp and poky underneath his stomach.

He began to recall what had happened to him: he had been in that stupid inn, reading that stupid scroll that had transported him to some alternate dimension, then Naruto had been shouting outside the room, and after he had left to see what was going on, weird shadows began to attack.

That's right... he had tried to escape with one of Naruto's clones, but had inevitably been dragged into the shadows.

Then he had woken up in the familiar Uchiha clan district, the bodies of long lost family all littered about the district, just as he had remembered it... then, somehow, he had found his younger self being _weak _and unable to save anyone, finally dying at the hands of Itachi... then, Sasuke _was _that little boy. Trapped in a nightmare he had relived so many times...

But then, something changed.

_Naruto_.

Naruto had appeared in the nightmare, unexpected as it may have seemed, and throughout the nightmare, Sasuke had completely forgotten about him. He was an anomaly to his memory of the nightmares, and one that he had seen as a stranger.

But now he had remembered the blond as well as he ever had.

"Haha! Gotcha!" The familiar obnoxious voice laughed from above him, and Sasuke let out a grunt at having the blond on top of him. Irritably, he elbowed the other boy in the stomach sharply. "Oof!" Naruto rolled off Sasuke's back, clutching his stomach in pain. With a face scrunched up in pain, Naruto said, "Oy! Be a bit nicer to the person who just saved your ass!"

Sasuke said nothing as he shakily pushed himself to a stand. Thousands of thoughts were running through his mind at that one moment, and he didn't know where to start. It was simple to think he should start with an apology, to start by saying how badly he messed up. It was even simple to say he should thank Naruto for pulling him out of that hell... but words like "thank you" or "I'm sorry" seemed so... _foreign_ to him, and he found that he couldn't spit them out.

Instead, he fell into the usual routine, turning to Naruto with a glare. "You could have done a better job of it, moron." Sasuke snapped harshly. Despite his harsh tone, the blond didn't seem perturbed by the comments, and instead glare right back at him. It was only then that Sasuke noticed something very _off_ about Naruto.

His eyes were red, the pupils being vertical black slits. Fangs poked out of the sides of his mouth, the six markings on his face looking darker and more engraved. His normally slightly pudgy hands were thinner, sharper, and his stubbed nails were now more like claws, grown to a point.

It was the same as he had been at the inn.

"I think I did a pretty good job of it!" Naruto snapped right back, seemingly oblivious to his appearance, and he looked remarkably indignant. "'Sides, if you weren't so scared about me touching your 'willie', I could have gotten you out of there far quicker!"

Sasuke managed to ignore the oddity of Naruto's eyes in favor of staving off his embarrassment at the "willie" comment. "If you so much as mention that to anyone, I'll-"

"_Foolish mortals, you think you are safe since you've awoken from your nightmares? __Mortal__ arrogance __truly __knows no bounds._" A voice spoke directly inside Sasuke's head, the sudden interruption cutting him off from his train of thought. "_Do not assume that you are safe simply because the nightmare no longer surrounds you_."

"What the hell was that...?" Sasuke muttered, looking around for a source to the voice, but finding absolutely nothing but darkness and tar.

"What was what?" Naruto asked with a clueless expression. Then, he seemed to reconsider his previous question. "Wait, was it a creepy voice in your head? I haven't heard it for a while now, and I dunno why." Sasuke stared at Naruto blankly, wondering if the blond's head was so empty he stopped hearing it, but the mildly amusing thought was gone in an instant, his thoughts flooded with something else entirely.

Shadows were shifting, similar to the one that had swallowed him, and more alarmingly was the fact there were also tangible creatures following the shadows. They were large creatures that stood atop several large tentacles, with additional tentacles coming out of its midsection and face, four hands held out at its side. Just looking at them struck a sort of primal fear in Sasuke, more than the shifting shadows did.

"Uh-oh." Naruto cursed, glancing around for some sort of safe passage, but they were surrounded on all sides. "This isn't good."

"What clued you in?" Sasuke asked sarcastically, rising to a swift stand. Glancing around, he was disappointed that the flame sword he had used before was nowhere to be seen. It would be incredibly useful to have, at this point... Shaking his head, he gave Naruto a pointed look and said, "We need to get out of here."  
"Not until we find Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei! Neeshka, too!" Naruto said fiercely, glaring at Sasuke. The last name was met with zero recognition in Sasuke's mind, but he ignored that unfamiliarity to hide his wince. The comment was perfectly justified, and he couldn't even deny that.

"We're going to look for them, but we need to move," Sasuke said with a heavy sigh, "unless you want to get dragged into another mess by those things?"

Naruto dramatically rolled his eyes. "I know _that_! I _thought _you wanted to leave everyone behind _again_." Naruto said snidely, the comment causing Sasuke to twitch in irritation. Rather than continue the argument, Sasuke simply bit his tongue because he knew it was only to be expected. The lack of rebuttal gave Naruto time to form a single seal, his brow furrowing as he built up chakra. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" Several dozen clones popped into existence, all arming themselves with kunai. "Distract 'em, guys!"

A chorus of "You got it, boss!" and the clones were all diving head first into the mass of shadows and tentacles, punching, kicking, and screaming as they did. It was enough to create a big diversion that allowed Sasuke and Naruto to find a clear path through the shadows and tentacles. They barreled down the path without once looking back, for they knew that if they did, they'd be easily caught by their pursuers. Right now, all they could do was focus on running. Running and hoping they'd be able to find their team, or at _least_ some sort of respite.

* * *

Whatever these shadow things were – Sleepers, as the cat referred to them – Kakashi came to the conclusion that he _hated_ them. They were impervious to any sort of physical hit, and only became tangible when chakra was involved. When he had learned that, Kakashi thought it'd be relatively simple to use chakra imbued blows(to help conserve chakra), but as it turned out, they simply 'exploded' on impact. By that, it was not a literal explosion, but the shadow would 'separate' and reform a moment later, not a single sign of damage having been done.

As it turned out, his new companion named 'Neeshka', knew how to damage them. "You must hit them with your energy in an persistent form. Non-persistent forms, such as physical blows imbued with your energy, will only phase them temporarily." She had said, right before spraying fire on the shadows from both her palms. Indeed, the persistent fire had kept the shadows from reforming, but such a thing required more chakra than Kakashi felt he had at the moment, and he wasn't about to risk exhaustion. Especially not with the constant stream he was using to look through the Sharingan, as well as the mild amount of chakra use he was using to keep Sakura stuck to his back.

It was times like these he cursed his very average stamina.

Which meant he left most of the heavy hitting to Neeshka, but she said, "Regardless of my abilities, I too can become exhausted! We must find the boys quickly, otherwise we will all be lost!"

Kakashi knew that much. "Do you know where they are?" Kakashi asked, his hands flying through a set of seals for a low level Lightning technique, the electricity arcing from shadow to shadow before reaching a low voltage that it barely harmed the shadows on its final few jumps.

"I know where the fool is, but not the idiot." And in their short amount of time together, Kakashi learned Neeshka called Naruto the 'idiot', and Sasuke the 'fool'. "However, I cannot defend myself whilst tracking the fool. If I am to do so, you must defend me."

And that's where a problem arose. Kakashi could defend her, but not well. Not when he had to take care of the unconscious Sakura as well. Not to mention that at the moment, her safety was the most important thing in his mind. Perhaps it was the delirium that was causing it, but she took priority for him.

"I'll do my best, but I make no promises. It's a struggle to stay awake as is."

"Considering you broke free from Vaermina's nightmares by yourself, I do not fault you for your fatigue." Neeshka said, bringing her hands together, a faint light coming from between them. "I will attempt to find his current location, but not continue to track him. In doing so, I can still be of use here. Once I have found him, we will move."

Kakashi nodded, taking a deep, steady breath to keep his mind focused on the task at hand. Rather than use any actual techniques, he began to channel some Lightning chakra into his hand – enough that it'd do some damage, but not enough that it would be considered a genuine technique. With it in hand, he attacked any shadow that got close, Neeshka standing stock still, the glow around her hands getting brighter. It seemed to deter the Sleepers from approaching her, but that didn't mean they stopped entirely. Some joined together to form on entity, becoming larger and thicker with shadow that they didn't hesitate to approach. They were thicker and harder to cut, Kakashi noted, but they still fell to the Lightning chakra coursing through his hand.

"_Foolish mortals, you think you are safe since you've awoken from your nightmares? __Mortal__ arrogance __truly __knows no bounds._" A voice spoke directly inside Kakashi's head, its sudden appearance sounding off all sorts of warning bells for him. "_D__o not assume that you are __free__ simply because the nightmare no longer surrounds you._"

Whoever the voice belonged to, Kakashi didn't like it. Merely hearing the voice caused shivers to run down his spine, a primal fear overtaking his senses, enough that the only direct comparison he could make would be the feeling he got from the Kyuubi's chakra all those years ago. He could feel himself break out into a cold sweat, his breathing getting ever ragged from the fear he was feeling.

"Do not let its words affect you." Neeshka's voice spoke, drawing Kakashi's attention back to the world around him. "For if you do, you will never make it out of this hell."

Her words reached him well enough, and Kakashi forced himself to calm down and return his attention to the enemies attacking. Fear was the greatest enemy of any ninja, thus he could not let himself feel it. No matter how instinctual it was, he could not let himself fear. Succumbing to it would be their downfall.

"I have found the location of the fool. Let us move, and quickly." Neeshka said, dropping her hands to her sides and dashing past the shadows. Kakashi caught up with her quickly, clearing a small path of shadows along the way, before he soon joined her in ignoring and moving past them.

"_Arrogance. Do you know the word? It implies a belief in oneself that vastly exceeds genuine fact of th__eir __actual __capabilities__. __This __**arrogance **__is what all you mortals have. __E__very last one of you. Arrogance in believing yourself capable of __surpassing __**gods**__, believing yourself capable of outwitting the__m with your linear way of thinking__, yet not a single one of you is __actually __capable of it! Yet you __continue to__ foolishly believe you are!_"

The voice had returned, and he did his best to shove it out of his mind. Its words were - more than they were disconcerting – making him feel extremely tired. It was leaving him feeling as though he'd fall asleep at a moment's notice. This was only compounded on by the fact he had already felt like passing out from exhaustion.

"_I will __**humble**__ you mortals. Humble you who dare think you can enter my realm and escape from it unscathed!_"

There didn't seem to be anything different after that was said, but Kakashi realized there _was_ something different a moment after he initially thought that.

Tentacles... creatures _made_ out of tentacles were appearing from nowhere, and more than the shadows, they were a tangible threat. Made more apparent when they lifted thin, bony hands and an orange energy began to swirl around them.

Neeshka let out a string of unrecognizable curses, turning her head to Kakashi. "Seekers! We must move quicker, man!"

"Sorry to say, but I'm moving as quick as I can at the moment." Kakashi said tiredly. "If I were to move any faster, I'd only last a minute at best."

"Tch!" Neeshka lifted her right hand, flicking it in several directions, a lightly illuminated bubble appearing around herself that extended to Kakashi. "I did not want to use this, for it drains me too much, but we have no choice. We must maintain this speed, man, lest we ultimately fall here!"

Kakashi nodded his head. "Understood. I can maintain this speed for a while, at least."

And they did maintain it for a while, moving quickly and deftly through the throngs of shadows and "Seekers" that seemed more inclined to just let the masses deal with them, rather than follow them. Kakashi was thankful for that, but there was seemingly no end to the monsters. The entire horizon was filled with shadows and tentacles, and there was nothing past them.

Neeshka came to a sudden and abrupt halt, Kakashi nearly crashing into her with how slow his reactions were at this point. "Impossible." Neeshka muttered, eyes closed. "The fool should be around here, yet I do not sense him anywhere near here..."

"Could he have been moved?" Kakashi asked, to which Neeshka tilted her head.

"It is possible, yes... with the countless shadows here, it is possible that they simply moved him." Neeshka cursed loudly. "If that is the case, it is unlikely that we will ever find either he _or_ Naruto!"

"You can continually track them, right?"

"I can, yes, but in this situation, that would be the same as offering my life over to them."

Kakashi grimaced, throwing several glances at the shadows and tentacle freaks beyond the soft illumination of the bubble that surrounded them. "Though I hate to ask this... is there a way to get us out of here, so that we can come back for them when we're in better shape?"

"There is, yes, but-" Neeshka cut herself off, her ears twitching in a manner very similar to a cat's. Kakashi strained his own hearing, but he heard nothing but the sounds of hissing and moaning.

That changed within a few seconds.

"-aaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Kakashi could recognize that scream from any distance. It was Naruto, and he was getting closer. Neeshka and Kakashi moved towards the direction of the screams, and the moment they saw the orange clad boy running through the throngs of shadows, Neeshka called out, "Boy!"

He looked up in surprise, and immediately shifted direction towards them. Once he was inside the bubble, he hunched over, hands on his knees, gasping for air. "Holy crap! That was close! I thought I was a goner there, for a sec!" He said, Kakashi noticing an odd brown tint to his hair, clothes and skin. "The shadow Sleeper guys don't really notice us clones when we're not near the boss, but the tentacle guys _definitely _do!"

"How did you escape your nightmare, boy?" Neeshka cut in sharply, and Naruto looked up at her mildly confused.

Kakashi found himself gasping at the sight of red _fox_ eyes, sharp canines, indented markings, long cl-

"I dunno!" Naruto said, shrugging as he scratched the back of his head. "I heard a deep voice, and then I was in this place. Although, that happened to the _boss_, not me."

"You're a clone?" Kakashi cut in, having calmed his nerves at the sight of Naruto's odd feature. The boy turned his head to him, his eyes bugging once they landed on him.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're okay! That's great! I was super worried!" Naruto shook his head. "Then again, you're super strong, so I guess it makes sense. But man, I didn't even see you there!" He paused, looking as if he was trying to remember something. "Oh! Yeah, I'm a clone! Boss sent a bunch of us out to look for you guys when he got separated from Neeshka and Sakura!" Naruto looked greatly relieved as he said this, a grin spreading onto his face. Kakashi couldn't tell if it was Naruto being scatterbrained or _him_. Either way, with his muddled head, the boy's fast talking and constant thought process leaps were giving him a headache.

Naruto, on the other hand, was staring at the smaller hands dangling at Kakashi's sides... then his eyes bugged again as he realized what they were. "S-sakura-chan!?" He sputtered. "Is she okay!?"

"She will be once we leave this place." Neeshka said. "However, first, we must find your original, as well as your foolish friend. Do you know where your original is?"  
"Uhh... not _really_!" Naruto shrugged. "_But_!" He cut in excitedly, "I got a few clone memories a while ago, and apparently the boss found Sasuke! They're running away from the tentacle guys and trying to find you guys."

"How in Akatosh's name did you-" Neeshka cut herself off, shaking her head. "Can you find your original? Or, can you have your original find us?"

"Uh..." Naruto scratched his head, looking thoughtful. Then, he turned to look at Kakashi, "I dunno for sure, but do you, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Normally, the best way would be to find landmarks and triangulate the location via repeated Shadow Clone usage, but..." they glanced around at all of the shadows and tentacles. "All the landmarks look the same, here."

"Hmm..." Naruto's face scrunched up in thought. "Ah!" Snapping his fingers, he seemed to think of something, and quickly brought his hands together to form a seal. Two clones popped into existence around him, and he popped one of them on the spot. That sent his memories to all the existing clones, as well as Naruto. With that done, he looked to the other clone, nodding his head.

With a puff of smoke, the clone transformed into a a small _rocket_ type firework, and Kakashi stared at it blankly out of dumbed shock. It became even more potent when the original Naruto clone adjusted the rocket and somehow managed to fire it up into the sky without it dispelling. When the rocket exploded in the sky, it was a mixture of vague orange lights, along with plenty of smoke.

"Aw man, it wasn't as bright as I was hoping it'd be..." Naruto muttered, disappointed. "Guess the explosion dispels it, huh...? Damn!"

However, less than a half a minute later, _another_ rocket went off somewhere in the distance, and it was also primarily smoke. Unlike the first one, the lights that sparkled from it were of different colors, with one side – the side that was in their direction – of the explosion being orange colored, the rest being blue, red and green. That rocket was followed shortly by another one in the opposite direction, with the lights in their direction also being orange.

They were pointing towards their location. Kakashi was dumbfounded by the ingenuity. "Even if it doesn't explode like a normal firework, it serves as a marker." Shaking his head, Kakashi turned his head to look away from the dissipating smoke and instead look at Naruto's clone. "That's a very clever plan, Naruto. I'm both shocked and impressed."

"Heheh." Naruto grinned, chest swelling at the compliment. "I wouldn't have thought of it if you hadn't told me about the Shadow Clone and transformation stuff! Didn't work out like I hoped, but hopefully the boss will find us like this!" He said as he summoned several more clones to make more rockets.

Neeshka nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, let us hope."

* * *

As it turned out, Naruto – after receiving the clone's memories – and Sasuke actually saw one of the rockets go off.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke asked with a grunt, the two boys still running.

"That was one of my clones!" Naruto said, pausing as he did. After a moment of thought, he grinned. "Ooohh! Good job, number twenty-six!"

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Sasuke grumbled, glaring at the other boy. "What was the rocket for?"

"My clones are pointing us in the direction of Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan and Neeshka!" Naruto said with a wide grin. "They're that way! Come on!" Naruto diverted his run slightly to the right, and Sasuke followed after him. The raven-haired boy didn't question Naruto on the validity of his claim, simply accepted it and hoped it'd work out.

As it turned out, more and more rockets started to go off. "How do we know which way to go?!" Sasuke yelled, to which Naruto turned his head to him and grinned.

"There's four colors in the fireworks, and the orange one is the direction of the right way!" Sasuke blinked, watching for the next one, and realized there _were _four colors in the midst of all the smoke. Huh.

Sasuke just hoped that they really _were _leading them in the right direction. Then gain, even if they weren't, it was better to try to follow them instead of just going in a random direction as they had been. Especially considering _every_ direction was bad news. They were just lucky that their top speed was capable of outrunning the shadows and tentacle creatures.

They didn't know how long they ran, or how many rockets they saw, but eventually, they saw a distant one that was pure orange. Making a beeline towards it, they found a small, glowing bubble amidst the shadows and tentacles. Coming to a sliding stop inside it, Naruto called out "Safe!" with a light laugh.

"Good job, Naruto." Kakashi said wearily. "Clever idea, and it worked like a charm."

Grinning up at Kakashi, Naruto gave him a mock salute before he turned to Neeshka, "So! How do we get out of here?!" He asked her, her expression morphing into a grimace.

"Unfortunately, it is unlikely we'll be able to escape without some serious intervention on the part of the gods. At this point, I am simply too exhausted from maintaining this bubble to summon up enough energy to open a gateway, nor is it practical to open one in our current situation." Neeshka paused. "I'm sorry, but this is the end, I'm afraid. My plan failed. Spectacularly."

Naruto was about to protest, when Sasuke grunted, "What about the technique that got us to this world? We can use that to get out of here, can't we?"

"Probably." Kakashi said, glancing about at the ground. "But we don't exactly have a clean surface to write the seal on on."

"What about one of our tents?" Sasuke suggested with a frown. "Naruto is carrying your pack. We can just write on that."

"Hm... that would probably work. We'll probably need a larger area than what's in this bubble, though."

"Unfortunately, I cannot expand the protective sphere without something first clearing out what outside it." Neeshka said, to which Kakashi glance outside.

With a heavy sigh, Kakashi lowered Sakura from his back, gingerly setting her on the ground. "I should be able to clear a larger area for you to expand the sphere. Just be prepared for me to pass out once I'm finished."

"If you clear a sufficient area, I will expand it to encase you as soon as you do." Neeshka said, earning a nod of acknowledgment.

"Alright, then." Kakashi took a deep breath, stilling his body. Then, as he exhaled, he brought his hands together. "Here I go." With his hands flying through several seals, Kakashi exited the protective bubble. His hands flew apart upon completion of his hand seal series, electricity dancing around his hands and fingers.

Then, the electricity flew outwards.

It leapt from Sleeper to Sleeper, from Sleeper to Seeker, from Seeker to Sleeper and everywhere in between. It continued onward until it had gone an entire circle around the protective sphere, and then it continued _beyond _that by arcing through the throngs of Daedra, the electricity seeming to lose none of its deadliness. Not until it had cleared out a considerable number, petering out to nothing but a small spark.

True to his word, Kakashi collapsed to his knees, eye flitting for a brief moment before he fell into the ground face first.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out, moving towards him, only to be stopped by Neeshka.

"Hold, boy!" She growled, and after a grunt, the protective bubble started to grow until it encompassed a larger area. "_Now_ go!"

Naruto nodded, rushing to Kakashi's side and rolling his face out of the tar. With a bit of effort, he lifted the much larger man up by looping Kakashi's arm around his shoulder and dragging him closer to the center of the bubble. Once he had set him down, Sasuke walked over and started to dig through Kakashi's pack. "Hey!" Naruto grunted, being slightly pushed around by Sasuke's movement.

"Just hold still!" Sasuke snapped, finally finding what he was looking for. Pulling the large tent sheet out of the pack, Sasuke began to unfurl it, spreading it out as far as he could.

"This technique will get you out of here?" Neeshka asked, eying the raven-haired boy.

"Yup! It should!" Naruto paused briefly, scratching his head. "Though it probably won't be _home_, it'll at least be better than _this_ place."

Neeshka nodded her head. "Then I wish you and your companions luck in returning to your home."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, looking at her for a long, blank moment.

"Naruto, I've laid out the tent." Sasuke called, but Naruto ignored him.

"Are you saying you're going to stay behind?" Naruto asked Neeshka, eyes wide.

"Yes, boy. It was always my intention to remain here once I helped you find your friends."

That boggled Naruto's mind, and he sputtered, searching for the words of protest he desperately wanted to say. "B-but you don't have to stay here! You can come with us! Sure, it won't be _your _home, either, but anywhere's gotta be better than _here_!"

"No, boy, I cannot. Rather, I do not deserve to join you." She said, voice sounding stronger and clearer than Naruto had ever recalled it sounding. "Did you not once stop to consider something, boy? Something about me?"

"What do you mean...?" Naruto stared at Neeshka blankly, unsure of what she was talking about.

"Why was I the only living being in the void of life that was Balmora? Hm? How did I know so much about Vaermina and why she was there? Or how did I know the ritual to open a portal to her realm of Quagmire?" Neeshka asked, chuckling mirthlessly. "Boy, _I_ was the one responsible for bringing Vaermina to Balmora."

"What...?" Naruto asked, feeling as if all the air in his lungs had disappeared. "You mean..."

"Yes, boy." Neeshka grinned, the gesture showing off her fangs. "The wounds of the Oblivion Crisis run far deeper than the few short few years it has been could ever heal. I was but a naïve cub still when the outsiders – mercenaries – came parading through the town demanding citizens to pay them for protection, only to turn their backs on them by maiming, raping, killing its citizens once they were paid... and soon, the citizens themselves began to turn on their neighbors, their friends, their own families. It was a blood bath by all accounts, and it had nothing to do with the looming Daedric invasion." Neeshka shook her head. "For years, I was haunted as the townsfolk returned to their everyday lives despite the atrocities they committed, by the fact they acted as if nothing had happened, as if they hadn't turned sword to their own flesh and blood!" She snarled the latter part out, before quickly calming herself down. "It was in my nightmares that I was visited by Vaermina herself, and that triggered my desires to make the people who ignored their crimes suffer for them. I sought out her power to enact revenge."

Naruto said nothing at first, swallowing a thick lump that was forming in his throat. Then, hoarsely, he said, "Even if you did... no one... no one deserves to suffer this place."

Neeshka snorted, shaking her head. "Innocent little boy. So naïve, so foolish! If that were the case, how horrible am I for subjecting hundreds to this cruel and eternal fate? No, boy, this is my punishment, and one I accepted the moment I sought Vaermina out. I would suffer in the nightmares that I made others suffer. It came sooner than I expected, but in return I did some small good in my last few moments." Reaching out, Neeshka lightly pet Naruto's head, the gesture affectionate in nature. "So long as your and your friends – people who had nothing to do with Balmora's sins – are safe, that is enough for me. My life was over from the moment I first met Vaermina face to face, but you... you have a long life still ahead of you, one not of this world. Go. Go and live as you were meant to, while you still can."

Naruto stared at Neeshka, struggling both to find words to convince Neeshka to join them, as well as struggling to wrap his mind around her words – her reasoning. If she was responsible for the entire mess, that meant she was also responsible for _them_ being stuck there in Quagmire... which meant she was technically a "bad guy", a bad person who nearly got his entire team stuck in endless nightmares.

But he just couldn't _leave_ her here...

"Naruto..." Sasuke cut in, voice both soft and urgent. There was little time left in this bubble – that they all knew – and the Sleepers were starting to swarm and form a terrible amalgam of shape shifting horrors. "...we don't have much time to sit around and dwell on this..."

Realizing that he had no more choice in the matter, Naruto took a deep breath, holding back tears that wanted to leak out of his eyes. Once again, he had to leave someone behind. Once again, he had to ignore the pleading feeling in his stomach that screamed for him to save people from a fate as horrible as they were being subjected to, a feeling that was demanding to put a stop to all this...

But regardless of the feeling, he was powerless to comply to it. If he tried to go with his feelish, and tried to fruitlessly convince Neeshka to come with them, they'd likely all end up stuck in this hell, with literally no way to get out.

And he realized, something that gave him an uncomfortable feeling, that there would be hundreds, thousands, possibly many, _m__any_more than that who would still be suffering at the hands of Vaermina's horrors. It would be unfair to them if he helped those he could _see _in front of him, but ignored the countless that he could not...

For what felt like the millionth time in his short life, Naruto couldn't help but feel well and truly powerless.

After being unable to stop himself from shedding a few stray tears, Naruto wiped them away, and with it, wiped away his feeling of powerlessness. Steeling his resolve and hardening his heart, Naruto turned back to Sasuke and his two unconscious teammates, both determined and broken.

"Alright." Naruto said, tone quiet, but serious. "Sasuke! You looked at the scroll, right?"

"A little." Sasuke responded, eying Naruto carefully, worriedly even, but managed to keep it from being too overt. "I know a few parts of the sealing array by now. Particularly, the top part."

"_Yosh_!" Naruto broke into a grin, one that looked noticeably forced. "Work on the top part, I'll start from the bottom! We'll use the goopy tar stuff to form the seal!"

Sasuke nodded, briefly eying Naruto with concern, before he joined Naruto and began scooping up the tar to draw with it. He grimaced at its texture, but grudgingly began slathering it on the tent's surface in the way he remembered the sealing array from the brief time he studied it. After a few long minutes of drawing with the thick ichor, Neeshka began to breathe heavily, the protective bubble around them shrinking in size. "Be quick with it, boys! I cannot hold this protective sphere much longer!"

"We're almost done!" Naruto said, panicked. Quickly, he added the finishing touches to the seal, and immediately dragged Kakashi onto it. Sasuke did the same with Sakura, both of them being sure not to smear the seal too much. "Okay!" Naruto stood in the center of the seal, with Sasuke standing over Kakashi and Sakura. Once they were all in place, Naruto began going through the seals, feeling the chakra build up inside him.

With the last seal, Naruto looked up – one last time – to see the bubble break, and he made eye contact with Neeshka. The shadows began to wrap themselves around her form, dragging her into their dark embrace. Despite it all, there was a contented look in her eyes, and she gave him a gleaming smile. "Goodbye, boy. Good luck."

Naruto's vision began to blur, and before he could start crying, he slammed his palm down on the center of the seal. For a brief moment, there was a brilliant light that sent the Sleepers scurrying backwards. The light began to envelope the four shinobi within the sealing circle, before it sucked them in. For Naruto, everything changed from blinding white to pitch black. As everything around him began to fade, he heard the smallest of whispers in the back of his mind.

"_Do not think this is the end, humans. I will not be slighted in this manner. I will find you. And I will kill you. Sleep lightly, mortals._"

Then, there was nothing more.

* * *

_A/N: Once again, they're out of there. Naruto is, once again, unable to save someone from the __shitty situation__ they ended up in, __and this time it was someone he actually got to know somewhat, being that much harder to come to terms with it__. __Of course, this time it was the actual person themselves telling him to leave them, so yeah. Difficult situation for him to deal with, and it'll be something that comes up from time to time. Naruto has chronic hero syndrome, and unfortunately he can't save everyone, even if he wants to._

_Anyways...__ Neeshka __gets stuck in Quagmire__,__ which was the plan from the start. What wasn't the plan from the start was her being the cause for the whole nightmare business in Balmora. Initially, she was actually one of a few people still in Balmora, as Vaermina couldn't really 'take' a few of them, but it didn't make a whole lot of sense. It was one of the 'plot holes' I filled, since it made more sense and flowed better for her to be the culprit__. __And, although never stated in the actual story(there really wasn't any reason to call attention to it), the Argonian leaving Balmora they met in the first chapter was an accomplice, but he wasn't aware of the effects until it had been carried out, and thus he left in a panic.__ Neeshka, __on the other hand,__ stayed behind, ready to be taken to Vaermina to suffer alongside the rest of Balmora. Team 7 was unlucky enough to get caught up in the mess. __Or rather, I made them unlucky enough to get caught up in the mess!_

_I'd say until next time, but there's another chapter waiting! Oh my!_


	10. W3, C1: Sterile

_Chapter Title: _Sterile

_Words:_ 7662

_Series:_ Naruto, ...

* * *

For perhaps the first time in days, his eyes opened. His eyelids cracked as dry mucus tore apart, a film of it left behind making his vision foggy and clouded. The sharp contrast of clarity between his left eye and his right eye was immediately apparent, and he reflexively reached up to his left eye to ensure that he wasn't imagining things. It was there, as there as it had ever been, and the memories of having it torn out by his deceased teammate seemed blurred and fuzzy.

That's right... it had all been a dream; a _nightmare_. One induced by some powerful demon of sorts. Considering there was no horrific imagery of people long since dead, he could assume he was no longer in that realm. Then... it seemed Sasuke and Naruto were successful in getting them out. Letting his nerves calm down, Kakashi shut his left eye, allowing his right eye to more readily adjust to vision. After a few minutes of slow blinking, any bleariness and mucus film cleared, allowing him perfect vision once again. With his vision restored, he took the time to examine his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was that the room looked like a hospital room. The equipment he was hooked up to appeared very new and pristine, and the entire room had a very clean, very sterile look to it. However, he could immediately tell it was not Konoha's Hospital. As much as he wished it _was _the familiar hospital, and all that had occurred in his recent memory was just a horrible, hallucinogenic dream, the entire debacle he had gone through in the past few days of his memory were not dreams, but very much reality. This was a completely unknown hospital he did not recognize, and one that was just different enough that he would bet any amount of money that it was a completely different world. A shame; he had really hoped they'd jump to their world, but it went just as he expected, more or less.

Adjusting himself so that he could sit, Kakashi collected his bearings. The first thing he did was take off the face mask that was pumping too much oxygen for his now awake self. Rubbing lightly at the creased skin, he began to sort his thoughts.

The last thing he really remembered – remembered with clarity, that is – was seeing Sakura with a large gaping wound in her chest. After that, his memory got fuzzy. He recalled a cat – rather, a cat _person –_ moving shadows that were too much like a Nara's for his liking, a haunting voice in his head, as well as the two male members of his team. It was only after meeting up with them that Kakashi's memories – fuzzy as they were – completely ended.

Rubbing his left eyelid absently, he recalled the strange change in his Sharingan; particularly one that was even more draining than the normal form of the Sharingan, and had resulted in a vortex that sucked those shadows inside. It had taken a lot out of him, and left him mildly delirious – which left him very pointedly delirious due to the fact he had already been mildly delirious over the fact he had thought he had killed Sakura.

Which, he thought absently, was something he'd soon prefer to forget. Nightmare or no, the thought of killing another person close to him – as distant as he and Sakura were, regardless – like that. He had enough blood on his hands. He couldn't stain them with those of his own companions.

Drifting away from his more morbid thoughts, Kakashi vaguely recalled reading something about an advanced stage of the Sharingan, once upon a time. It was considered a clan secret, but going through a few channels later on in his life – ANBU channels – had given him some useful information on the Sharingan. If he was right, there was an advanced stage of the Sharingan called the "Mangekyou Sharingan" that required sufficient mental trauma to awaken.

It was somewhat odd, he thought, that he hadn't awoken it before... or had he? He couldn't recall having it before, but he did know that – after killing Rin – the Sharingan had matured from its two tomoe to three... he remembered that much, at least.

Regardless, it was something he'd have to check more thoroughly when he had access to a mirror.

The door to the room opened up, drawing him from his thoughts. At the thought of human(or otherwise) contact, Kakashi briefly realized he wasn't wearing his usual mask, but shrugged it off as the person entered the room. It was a young woman, snappily dressed and quite attractive. She wore one of those foreign suits he'd known had become popular in some areas of the Land of Fire: a black 'suit' coat, white button shirt, a red tie, a black, knee length skirt, finished off with tall black heels. Past her attire, she had dark reddish-brown eyes, red hair that covered part of the left side of her face, and pale skin with just a hint of makeup.

Judging by her perfectly neutral expression, she was a serious person. Not quite harsh or cold like many ninja were, but one who took business matters seriously. When she looked at him, she did not seem surprised, but nodded her head in a mild greeting, one Kakashi returned. It was only then that Kakashi noticed someone else entering the room. A man wearing a suit similar to the woman, save for black slacks instead of a skirt, stepped inside and closed the door shut behind him. He took up position at the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed. His expression was rougher than the woman's, a clear agitation causing his brow to set into a mild scowl. His sharp facial features were contrasted by the short, messy, bright white hair and a pair of narrowed gray eyes. For some reason or another, he had a small white bandage over his left brow, and a shadow of facial hair that was just a bit longer than a shadow, but his white hair made it harder to tell.

"It's quite fortunate that you woke when you did, sir," the woman said calmly as she walked over to the foot of his hospital bed, "I was just checking up on you on the off chance you had awoken. I would have been gone for several days had you not already been awake."

"Lucky." Kakashi rasped, wincing as he did. Although not dry, his throat was fairly rough from disuse. The woman kindly grabbed a pitcher of water on a small table at the end of the bed, pouring a glass that she quickly handed to Kakashi. After several large gulps, he finished the glass and handed it back to the woman. "Where am I?"

"Tatsumi Port Island in Japan." The woman said, pouring more water into the glass. "You're in the Kirijou Company's Private Hospital, and I am Mitsuru Kirijou, the CEO of the Kirijou Company." Words that meant nothing to Kakashi, but the glass of water she held out was more than welcome. He remained quiet as he took several sips of the water, eying the woman carefully. "We have quite a lot of questions of you, but the first is simply your name, if you'd be so kind."

"Kakashi. Kakashi Hatake."

Kirijou nodded her head. "I see." She paused for a moment, eying Kakashi carefully, and he could tell she was considering something. What, he couldn't say. "If I may be so bold, would you kindly explain to me why you and three children appeared out of a white wormhole in a nondescript alleyway?"

Kakashi blinked owlishly at the question. Is that how they appeared? Through a white wormhole? It wasn't quite what he had been expecting, but he supposed it made sense with the bright flash of light that using the technique caused. "Am I the first to awaken?"

"Second to last, actually." Kirijou said, giving him a very pointed look to go along with that statement. She didn't seem to happy that he had asked a question instead of answering her question. "The blond gave an insane tale about how you all arrived, the black haired boy refused to speak, and the pink haired girl is catatonic."

Kakashi winced at the last bit of information, confirming what he had feared while he had still been conscious. Sakura's chakra had been all over the place, and it seemed she _had _been stuck in a nightmare, one that was simply too much for her relatively fragile mental state. He felt especially guilty considering she got drawn into his own nightmares against her will and had been _killed _by his own hands inside of it.

"I'm sure whatever Naruto – the blond boy – told you is accurate, albeit with some slight exaggeration and confusion on his own part." Kakashi started, debating whether to tell the truth or not... knowing Naruto, the blond had already blabbed the entire truth to the woman and was merely being treated as an insane boy. Perhaps, then, the truth would "set them free" if it came from a second source? He could only hope. "While I wasn't conscious when he actually _used _the technique, we used it to escape a very bad, very dangerous situation that would have resulted in a fate worse than death. The technique we used is a _Fūinjutsu_ technique that crosses the borders of Time and Space, a technique designed to allow the user to travel to different worlds, different dimensions, and even different _times_."

"You can't expect us to believe that." The white haired man interrupted, scoffing as he did. "That's completely ridiculous!"

"Quiet, Akihiko." Kirijou said, her tone short but not rude. The man shut his mouth, grumbling irritably under his breath. "I suppose that this isn't your first time using this... _Fūinjutsu _technique?"

"No, unfortunately. The technique isn't completed, and it's unstable. It spits us out at random points with no rhyme or reason to its methodology. It's the third time we've used it, unless I missed something very important when I was unconscious." Kakashi said with a shrug.

"Do you recall what your previous... 'world' was like?"

"In a word? Nightmarish. Lots of shadows, some tentacles too." Kakashi said vaguely. "There was more, but to be honest, I'd rather forget it all."

Kirijou nodded her head, expression thoughtful. "Well, your story more or less lines up with the boy's. Vaguer than his, but I don't think the boy would know what 'vague' was, even if it was staring him in the face."

"No, I don't think he would." Kakashi said with a smile.

"You can't be believing this crap, Mitsuru!" 'Akihiko' cut in again, looking irritated. "Just because their stories line up doesn't mean they're telling the truth! World travel? Dimensional travel? _Time_ travel? It's too ridiculous!"

"Perhaps it is, but we've both dealt with things that should be impossible." Kirijou said laxly, giving Akihiko a sideways glance. "Regardless of the absurdity of their story, they've been unconscious since the moment they arrived through the wormhole, yet their facts line up. Unless they planned the lie before the travel, which I have a hard time believing to be the case, it's more than likely true. The blond boy is simply too hyper and scatterbrained to be capable of remembering an elaborate lie like this prior to their appearance through the wormhole. If he tried, I'd expect more blunders than what we got from him."

Kakashi got a chuckle out of that, nodding his head in agreement. "He's a simple minded individual, and he certainly forgets a lot of important things he should remember – and tends to remember things most people would prefer he forgot." Kirijou smiled slightly at the comment, while Akihiko let out a slight scoff. "You kept us separate to ensure our stories matched, didn't you?"

"Quick on the uptake." Kirijou said, not at all phased about being called out on the fact. "There were security reasons, as well as space availability, but yes, that was our primary intention. I was inclined to believe the blond, despite how outlandish the tale he told us was. Here in this world, things like the 'supernatural' and 'magical' and 'scientifically impossible' are all things that the vast majority of the population believe to be nonexistent. The thought of interdimensional travel would be scoffed at by most people."

"But you aren't most people." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"No, we aren't." Kirijou smiled wryly. "The Kirijou Company is – secretly – the leading investigator of the supernatural and paranormal, although our primary goal is to ensure they remain secrets to the common populace. If word got out that these sorts of things existed-"

"Panic would strike." Kakashi said, nodding his head. "I understand." While it never was about 'supernatural' things in his world – people were all too willing to believe the supernatural when things like Ninjas and the Tailed Beasts existed – there were plenty of things leaders kept secret to prevent a public outcry. One such secret was Naruto's heritage, as the people of Konoha would no doubt freak out, riot, and just cause general mayhem over him being the son of their beloved Fourth Hokage, not the spawn of the devil himself. No one who knew knew if the people would react positively or negatively at the news, but no one who knew wanted to risk it.

"Good. Keep that in mind whenever we decide to discharge you from the hospital." Kirijou said, causing Akihiko to whip his head around to her.

"You're going to discharge them?" He asked, shocked. "We don't know anything about them!"

Kirijou sighed slightly, giving Akihiko a flat look. "We won't discharge them fully, naturally. They will still remain under the Kirijou Company's watch, but they will be at least be allowed access to more than just a few cramped hospital rooms." Kirijou told him sharply. Akihiko didn't look too pleased at the information. Waving him off, Kirijou said, "Please inform the nurse that he is awake. It'll give the doctor time to find a way to work his physical into his schedule."

Akihiko growled, grumbled and cursed as he left the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Kakashi watched him go with slight amusement. "A bit grumpy, isn't he?"

"He's just worried." Kirijou responded lightly. "With good reason, albeit an unrelated reason to _your_ predicament, but your appearance managed to set us all on edge. Unfortunately in his case, his worry and over protectiveness can affect his overall judgment sometimes." Shaking her head, Kirijou cleared her throat. "Regardless, I have business to attend to at the moment, so I can't stay any longer. Until the next time, Hatake-san."

"Ah, yes. _Ja ne_."

* * *

Naruto wanted to scream. He wanted to shout. He wanted to throw a temper tantrum and go on a spree of destructive pranks. Being stuck in a hospital room _alone_ of all things was _infuriating_, especially since the people who were keeping him there _refused_ to utter even a single peep on how Kakashi, Sasuke or Sakura were doing. He really, _really_ wanted to get out of the stupid room and check on them, but noooooo. For 'security', he'd be stuck in this room until they 'verified' his story or some such.

It wouldn't have been so bad if he could just make a clone to stay there and then sneak out to check on them himself, but nope. They had cameras everywhere, apparently, and they had no qualms sending in several armed guards to detain him. Normally, that wouldn't have deterred Naruto, but they had things that looked like those 'gun' things Kakashi was nervous about, so he surrendered(for once listening to Kakashi's advice – the older man would be so proud!). But now he was strapped to the damned bed with no way to leave it, and his arms were bound completely in a way that he couldn't even scratch a few itches that were doing their damnedest to piss him off.

"ArrrrrgGGHHHHHH!" Naruto roared, once again fruitlessly yanking at his bindings in a vein attempt at ripping them apart. They, as expected, did not budge. They _were_ cast iron after all. He didn't have that kind of strength to rip 'em off, and he doubted even Kakashi would be able to do that without some _serious _struggle.

He immediately stopped his temper tantrum at the sound of the door to his room clicking, and he froze on the spot out of nervousness. A small part of him felt panic at the thought it was another one of those creepy _male _nurses coming in to tell him to turn his head and cough, only to get mad at him when his coughs weren't strong enough. At the same time, he wouldn't mind if it was a cute _female _nurse coming into to do the same.

As it turned out, it was not even a nurse at all, and that caused him to involuntarily tense up. It was a very pretty blond lady with bright blue eyes, wearing a strange headpiece over her ears. Normally, that wouldn't be a huge cause for alarm, but she wore a suit similar to the other lady that had talked with him - the red headed lady - with the black coat and red tie, but instead of a skirt she wore pants like the guys with the guns. That made him nervous.

"Is everything alright? I heard a scream." The woman asked with concern clearly evident in her voice. Naruto relaxed a little at those words, and he couldn't help but feel sheepish.

"Ah, y-yeah..." Naruto wanted to scratch his head _so badly_, but the damned bindings wouldn't let him. "I'm just getting frustrated being cooped up in a hospital bed and not able to see my friends!"

The woman looked thoughtful, cupping her chin. Naruto briefly caught a glimpse of something shiny on her hands, and had to do a double take when he saw her wearing a weird set of gloves. The ends of them were metal, with the main part being a very pale white. Really strange looking gloves...

"That would be very frustrating, wouldn't it? I understand what it's like not being able to see one's friends for reasons like this..."

"Right?!" Naruto agreed, huffing. "Sure, I tried to leave a few times, but I only wanted to see them! It's not like I was going to escape, or anything!" Which was only half-true. He'd escape if he could get the other three together, but only then!

"I comprehend." The woman said, somewhat oddly. Naruto didn't have time to dwell on _what _she comprehended, as she walked over to his bed. Then the woman did something that floored Naruto. Grabbing onto the one cast iron bindings wrapped around Naruto's right hand, the woman pulled on it ever so slightly, the result causing the binding to _rip lean off_.

Naruto's mouth fell open in shock, and he stared at her as she went over to the other side of the bed and repeated the process. Holy shit! She didn't unlock them, didn't loosen them or anything like that, she just _ripped them off like they were paper_! Naruto just gawked at her, even as she continued by ripping off his leg bindings with equal ease, dusting her hands off with a few pats upon accomplishing it. "There we go." She said, not even sounding winded.

Naruto just kept gawking, wondering if he wasn't going a little loopy after being cooped up for so long. His mouth kept flapping unintelligibly, but the woman didn't seem to notice as she said, "Although I can't let you wander around on your own, I'd be happy to accompany you as you go see your friends."

His jaw snapped shut with a click, Naruto recovering from his shock in an instant. "Uh... sure!" Naruto was still shocked of course, but he wasn't one to look a gift-horse in the mouth! If this lady was gonna let him go see his teammates, by god he was _gonna take it_! Hopping off the bed, Naruto grinned up at the woman. "Thanks, lady!"

"Please, call me Aigis." The woman said kindly, a small smile gracing her face. Then, she frowned ever so slightly, tilting her head inquisitively. "If you don't mind me asking, what's _your_ name?"

"Naruto!" He stuck his hand out for a hand-shake, Aigis taking it after a moment of consideration. Naruto was struck by how _cold_ her gloves were, but just shrugged and shook her hand exuberantly. "So, so..." Naruto pulled his hand away to scratch his head. "Where are the others?"

"Follow me, I'll show you." Aigis said, turning on her heel and walking out of the hospital room. Naruto followed after her, internally rejoicing at being able to walk again. Being bed-ridden for a few days straight was the _worst _thing ever! Naruto couldn't help but stretch his arms far above his head as he walked, letting them slowly fall down to their usual place behind his head, both hands linked together. Oh yeah, it felt good to be free.

As they walked, Naruto examined the rest of the hospital. It kinda looked like Konoha's main hospital in a way, not that he ever went there much to comment on its appearance. The only time he did was usually because the Hokage wanted him to get a checkup after he did a crazy prank/stunt and got injured somehow. There was a lot of the same stuff going on here: people in uniforms walking about, going into rooms, checking papers and stuff, and some patients slowly walking along, or being rolled along in a wheelchair by a nurse. Nothing really exciting at all.

"So, so! Where is this place?" Naruto asked, keeping his hands locked behind his head.

"Hm?" Aigis turned her head to look at him. "Kirijou-san didn't tell you?"

"Who, the red-head lady?" Naruto squinted, making a face. "She didn't tell me much, just kept asking me a bunch of questions and kept telling me to tell the truth even though I _was_ telling the truth."

"I see." Aigis tilted her head, thoughtful. "This is the Kirijou Company's private hospital in Tatsumi Port Island. You were brought here after you appeared through a small wormhole not too far from here."

"Huh." Naruto frowned, looking up at Aigis. "What's a wormhole?"

Aigis' brow rose at the question, but she remained quiet for a moment as she considered it. "That's a difficult question to answer, Naruto-kun. I would have thought you'd know, considering you traveled through one." Naruto bristled a little at the comment, but Aigis seemed to pay it no mind. "Would you prefer a scientific explanation, or a more simple explanation?"

Naruto squinted up at Aigis, frowning. "Uh... simple would be good." He hated science.

"Hm... it's difficult for me to explain in a non-scientific way, as I do not know any such simple way specifically..." She said, slowly. Then, after a moment of consideration, she continued, "I suppose one way I could explain it is with our arms."

"Our arms?" Naruto blinked, looking down at his own. "What do you mean?"

"Well, imagine there was a small ant on one of your hands, and it wanted to get to the other, but you had your arms spread completely out. That would mean the tips of your fingers are as far away from each other as possible. It would take a long time for the ant to crawl to the other hand, correct?"

"Yeah...? I guess?"

"Well, if you were to bend your elbows in and touch the tips of your fingers together , your hands would be much closer together, wouldn't they?" Aigis continued, and Naruto frowned in thought. After a moment of serious thought, he nodded his head, a smile starting to spread across his face

"Yeah, yeah! Then the ant could just walk on over to the other hand really quickly!"

"That's the basic concept of a wormhole." Aigis said. "It's essentially a bend in time and space that creates a 'shortcut' from one place to another. In this case, you're bending your elbows to create a shortcut for your hands to become closer, allowing the ant to cross over easily. In your case, you're bending time and space to allow you to travel from one point to another in a matter of seconds."

"Ooooh!" Naruto nodded his head, despite the fact he didn't _completely_ get it. He supposed the wormhole they appeared out of was how they got from Balmora to here. It was just weird to think there could be a 'shortcut' from two worlds and universes entirely... _That_ was the part that didn't make sense to him. It would probably make more sense to him if he actually understood what all those crazy seals on the scroll meant instead of them just being a bunch of squiggly lines to his eyes.

"The question in my mind is how you four created a wormhole that brought you here." Aigis continued, looking at Naruto closely. It was not a look of anger, suspicion, or coldness; just one of utter curiosity.

"Eheh..." Naruto scratched his head a bit nervously. "It's kind of a long story... and it was a _total _accident!" The first one, anyways. The past two were fully conscious decisions on their part. They didn't have much _choice_ but to use their dimensional hopping powers. Too many sticky situations. Especially the last one. Ugh, those weird tentacles guys that started popping up were super gross... gave him the creeps just remembering them.

"I see." Aigis seemed to accept the 'accident' story, and became completely silent as they walked. Naruto felt a bit uncomfortable in the silence, but luckily enough they reached a door. "Here is a room with one of your friends."

Naruto jolted, looking at the door with just a hint of worry. He really hoped it was Sakura or Kakashi. Naruto wasn't sure how to react to Sasuke just yet. Sure, Sasuke seemed to have been a bit less hostile – just a bit – after he and Naruto were forced to team up in Quagmire... but he still wasn't sure how to act around the other boy. Especially since there had been no reconciliation after their argument, not to mention that whole thing about the willie... it was going to be really awkward.

Opening the door, Naruto felt crushed when he saw it was indeed Sasuke in the hospital bed. The boy was sitting up, unbinded, and looking like he usually did. Irritated and with a deep scowl on his face. It didn't change much when he saw Naruto, and in all honesty, it probably got worse.

"Hnnnn..." Sasuke's grunt was a bit lower and longer than usual. Naruto frowned, taking time to think about what to do. There were a great many things he wanted to do and say to Sasuke, but he didn't know which ones to say that wouldn't result in them fighting.

To hell with it, Naruto told himself. Briskly, he walked over to Sasuke and slapped the raven haired boy across the back of the head. Sasuke's eyes widened, and he reached up to grab the back of his head in surprise. "What the hell...!?"

"That's for being an idiot!" Naruto said, crossing his arms and wearing his biggest scowl. "Do you know how worried Sakura-chan and I were when we found out you got dragged into that nightmare realm?! Not only did we have to find Kakashi-sensei, but we had to find _you _too! Sure, it all worked out in the end, and I guess me and Sakura-chan got separated when we went in anyways, but it still sucked!"

"You think I don't know that already?" Sasuke growled, eyes sharpening with his glare. "I know I got us all into more trouble than we should have been! What else do you want me to say?!"

"Even if you know, I still _had_ to hit you for being an idiot. If I didn't, you won't learn!" Naruto said, nodding assuredly to himself. Sasuke rolled his eyes, idly rubbing the back of his head with some irritation. "At least we're all okay and got out of that place..." Naruto trailed off, recalling Neeshka who had made the decision to stay behind. She had said she wanted to stay behind, and that she was content with the four of them leaving without her, so there was no reason to feel guilt over it... right...?

Sasuke didn't notice Naruto's inner turmoil - or perhaps he ignored it - scoffing instead. "And now we're somewhere else entirely. What a great alternative."

"Hey, at least it's better than that place." Naruto said, crossing his arms. "There's no creepy nightmare place here."

"It's still not _our world_." Sasuke snapped, to which Naruto could concede that. It was about then that Sasuke noticed Aigis standing at the door, his eyes narrowing. "Who's that?"

"Huh?" Naruto glanced over his shoulder, spotting his new blond friend. "Oh! That's Aigis. We're not allowed to leave the hospital and all that, so she's gotta come with me to visit you guys."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, eyes still narrowed at Aigis. The woman didn't seem perturbed, instead dipping into a formal bow, smiling as she did.

"I'm Aigis. It's a pleasure to meet you...?" She trailed off, fully expecting Sasuke to add his name.

He didn't.

"This is Sasuke." Naruto said as he glared at Sasuke. Aigis was a nice lady, and Sasuke being so openly rude like that didn't sit well with him. "He's a big asshole who doesn't know what being friendly is." Sasuke's eyes turned to Naruto, then, his brow furrowing into a glare.

Aigis' brow rose, tilting her head to the side. "Are you two not friends?" She asked, to which both Naruto and Sasuke made faces and scoffed.

"Nope." They responded in unison, glaring at each other the moment the words left their mouths. "Don't imitate me!" Naruto growled, shaking a fist at Sasuke. The raven haired boy rolled his eyes.

"I'm not imitating you, dumbass. _You're _the one imitating me. Aren't _you_ the one who's always spouting off about your 'friends'?"

"Oy, oy! I might do that, but _you're_ not one of them! You're the guy who wanted to go home and leave everyone else behind, you jerk! Why would I want to be friends with someone like _that_!?"

Sasuke's lips quirked into a snide smirk, his arms crossing over his chest. "You say that _now_, of course."

Naruto knew exactly what he was talking about, but he didn't say anything in response. After all, both of them knew their hostility was a front to hide their current awkwardness around one another. Neither of them really knew how to act around the other after their argument, and instead were just falling into their usual routine of bickering.

Looking back at Aigis, Naruto found she was actually laughing lightly. "I see." She said, her tone implying she knew they were the sort of friends who were constantly at each others throats, rather than actual enemies. "Well... would you like to move onto another one of your friends?"  
"Sure!" Naruto nodded, thrilled at the notion of being able to get out of Sasuke's room, but... urk... "Oy, Sasuke..."

"Yes, I'm coming." Sasuke grunted, his legs already dangling over the side of the hospital bed. "I was getting tired of this damn room."

Fantastic. Just wonderful.

They left the room in complete silence, refusing to look at one another as they followed Aigis. They had been walking for a good minute when Sasuke poked Naruto, causing the blond to look at the raven-haired boy in annoyance. "What?" He snapped, to which Sasuke simply pointed at Aigis' feet. Naruto looked in the direction of her feet, not sure what to expect. What he saw made him tilt his head and frown. Aigis, for one, was not wearing shoes. For two, her 'feet' were like... metal hooves, almost. Kinda like a pig's or a cow's, and nothing like a human's foot.

Naruto briefly had a moment of panic, wondering if everyone in this world had people with hooves, and they were the only ones with feet. First, he glanced down at his own feet to make sure that they had not been replaced by metal hooves. Then, after confirming his feet were still there, he threw a few quick glances at passing nurses. They all had normal feet, and normal shoes, which meant hooves were not the norm here. Okay... what in the world was Aigis, then?

"Don't those things on her head look... attached to her?" Sasuke muttered. Naruto squinted at the weird earpieces, slowly nodding his head in agreement.

"...Yeah..." That also made Naruto think of her weird looking hands. Rubbing his chin, Naruto wasn't sure what to make of Aigis. Was she not human, like Neeshka was? She _looked_ human, or at least the face did. Her body, on the other hand... something was definitely different about her.

"Ah, here we are." Aigis announced as they came to a stop outside another hospital room. Their curiosity about Aigis' identity temporarily forgotten, the two stepped inside the room without any consideration or deliberation.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said happily, rushing over to the bedside of his teacher. Kakashi glanced away from the window to look at the blond, his expression one of mild surprise at hearing his voice. Naruto froze on the spot, his mouth hanging open in shock.

Kakashi was not wearing his mask.

Naruto's eyes bugged, his mind unable to comprehend this fact, his mouth moving aimlessly, trying to form words but nothing was coming to mind.

"Ah, Naruto. It's good to see you!" Kakashi said, his surprise morphing into amusement at Naruto's shock and confusion. Looking past Naruto, Kakashi's single open eye landed on Sasuke, who was looking down at the ground, decidedly uncomfortable. "You too, Sasuke."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, avoiding even looking at Kakashi. Kakashi's face pinched in amusement, knowing exactly why the boy was refusing to look at him(though he was unaware of all the details, only basing it off what he could recall hearing from Neeshka), and it had nothing to do with his mask being off – if the boy knew Kakashi wasn't wearing a mask, no doubt he'd look. Kakashi's eye shifted over to Aigis, his brow rising slightly at her.

"And you are?" Kakashi questioned, to which Aigis immediately dipped into another formal bow.

"My name is Aigis. It's a pleasure to meet you..."

"Kakashi Hatake."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hatake-san." Aigis repeated, rising from her bow.

Kakashi nodded his head, smiling. "Like-wise, Aigis-san." Aigis blinked, looking slightly taken aback, before she nodded her head. "Naruto, could you stop gawking at me, please? I realize it's surprising to see me without my mask, but having my own student stare at me is making me uncomfortable." Sasuke's head whipped up so fast he actually winced and grunted from a mild whiplash.

While Sasuke began to gawk openly in complete shock at seeing his teacher without his mask, Naruto managed to recover enough to shake his head, pointing wildly at Kakashi. "Y-you never take off your mask!"  
"Indeed." Kakashi agreed. "But it wasn't me who took it off, unfortunately! Someone took advantage of me while I was unconscious and unable to do anything about it." The way he said that made it sound so _scandalous_. "Still, what are the two of you doing wandering around?"

"Ah-" Naruto turned his head to look at Aigis, who bowed her head.

"I voluntarily offered to accompany Naruto-kun to visit his friends under my supervision." Aigis said curtly. "I am not entirely aware of the situation surrounding your appearance, knowing only a cursory bit, but I do know that you all have been forced to rest in bed for roughly five days now. I made the judgment to allow you to meet, under my supervision."

"I see." Kakashi nodded. "It's probably my fault, after all I've been out of it for quite some time, haven't I?" He looked a bit sheepish as he said that, and Naruto couldn't get over being able to see the rest of his face.

"It's not your fault." Naruto said, scratching his cheek. "If anything, it's Sasuke's fault."

Sasuke was snapped out of his shock, finally tearing his eyes away from Kakashi. "How is it _my _fault?!" He asked irritably. "It wasn't my fault Kakashi got captured in the first place!"

"No, but you made rescuing him take _longer _since we also had to rescue _you_!" Naruto huffed, crossing his arms. Sasuke crossed his arms right back, ready to devolve into a shouting match when Kakashi reached over the side of the bed and bopped them both on the head.

"No arguing, you two. We're comrades, and if we want to get back home we'll have to work together, okay?" Kakashi said, reasonably. Naruto and Sasuke remained quiet, silently brooding at being admonished. "As for you, Sasuke... we'll have to have a private talk about camaraderie one of these days." Sasuke looked less than pleased, especially when Naruto began snickering. "No laughing." Kakashi said to Naruto, bopping him once again on the head.

"Yeah, yeah..." Naruto grumbled as he rubbed the mildly injured spot on his head.

Kakashi chuckled then, shaking his head. Then, his chuckles slowly died out, his expression becoming somewhat somber. "I presume you haven't visited Sakura yet?"

"Nope. Visited Sasuke first, then you." Naruto said, linking his hands behind his head. "We'll probably go visit her next."

"I see... I'm not sure if they'll let you. I heard she was in a catatonic state." Kakashi said, glancing up at Aigis for confirmation. Naruto frowned in confusion, mouthing 'catatonic' to Sasuke who just shrugged cluelessly in response.

"Yes. She's been awake for as long as the boys have, but she is non responsive to verbal and non-verbal stimuli. From the preliminary tests done, it appears that she is suffering from severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Kakashi winced at the last bit. It... wasn't unexpected – in fact, he had been expecting it after hearing Sakura was catatonic in the first place – but it certainly wasn't _welcome _to have it confirmed. After all, it _was_ largely his fault she was like that. Being tortured in such a cruel fashion, before she had even managed to grow as a ninja... only those who were fully prepared for the worst would be able to get through that sort of situation without serious trauma.

"Do you think seeing us will help her any?" Kakashi asked, knowing that there was always a risk that seeing people the victims of PTSD would trigger _negative _reactions, including vivid flashbacks. Others, however, _needed _to see those they were close to, to anchor themselves and give them something to focus on.

"It's hard to say. The psychiatrists and psychologists that examined her are unsure if she'll _ever _recover. All attempts at stimuli and treatment thus far have failed, and there is little brain activity in response to said stimuli. It's led to some of the Kirijou Company's greatest doctors to conclude that eventually she'll slip into a coma that she may never wake from."

Naruto gaped up at Aigis, horrified. Sakura-chan never waking up? Naruto didn't want to believe it. He _couldn't_ believe it! "Sakura-chan will _definitely_ wake up!" Naruto said forcibly, almost as if to convince himself of it.

"Technically, she is already awake." Aigis clarified to Naruto, causing him to stop in confusion. "She is catatonic – awake, but unaware of her surroundings; she is in a complete state of stupor. The doctors simply believe her condition will worsen with time."

Words that went in one ear and out the other for Naruto. He once again looked to Sasuke for help, but the other boy just shrugged, not knowing the answer himself. Then, they both turned to Kakashi.

With a heavy, weary sigh, Kakashi muttered, "Did you even pay attention to your lessons in the academy...?" Then again, perhaps that was taken out of the curriculum in times of peace? Shaking his head, he continued with, "Catatonia is a state wherein a person is – usually - not mentally aware of their surroundings. I guess you could call it a state in between unconsciousness and consciousness. There are a number reasons people may suffer catatonia, but the most common cause in our profession is usually trauma, be it mental or physical. In Sakura's case, it was most likely a combination of both."

Naruto still didn't totally get it, but Sasuke seemed to, his expression twisting into a frown. The boy knew what _that_ was like all too well, though he didn't want to admit it outright. "Was it because of that nightmare realm?" Sasuke asked darkly, to which Kakashi nodded gravely.

"What triggered the experience was the result of my own nightmares, and it appears what she suffered in there after was too much for her and she entered a catatonic state to escape the situation." Kakashi himself nearly broke after driving his Chidori into her heart, and it was only seeing her living, breathing self that he hadn't. Nothing else to it.

"Nightmare realm..." Aigis muttered, tilting her head. "Is that where you came from? The place you came from through the wormhole?"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto nodded his head, though less exuberantly than he would normally do. "We ended up in a weird world where some 'Day-Drick' Prince ruled nightmares or something, and Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke got sucked up into it. Me and Sakura had to bust 'em out, but..."

"She ended up getting dragged into the nightmares herself." Kakashi said, earning a nod from Aigis.

"I comprehend. I will file this information away and inform the nurses of the cause. It might not help, but any information could be useful." Aigis said. "I understand your fear for your friend, but the Kirijou Company has some of the smartest and most talented minds in the country at their disposal. I'm sure they will find a way to help your friend."

Naruto was relieved by her words, but Kakashi and Sasuke were both less convinced. However, neither one said anything, as they _wanted_ to believe Sakura would be fine, but were not convinced of it actually being possible. "Can we see her?" Naruto asked, to which Aigis shook her head softly.

"Unfortunately, she is in a psychiatric ward, which is in another building entirely. I don't have authorization to allow you to leave the building yet." Naruto deflated on the spot. "However, I will request to allow you to meet with her when Kirijou-san returns from her business trip."

Naruto pumped his fist in a small gesture of victory. "Alright! Thanks, Aigis-san!"

"Yes, thank you very much, Aigis-san." Kakashi said with a kind smile.

Aigis nodding, dipping into a half-bow. "You're welcome." She said politely. "It will probably be best if the two of you return to your rooms, now. I believe Akihiko-san is planning on coming to check up on you three soon, and he won't be happy if you are missing."

"Even if we're with you?" Naruto asked with a hint of a whine. He really didn't want to get locked back up in those iron bindings.

"Yes." Aigis said simply. "There have been some problems that have gotten him uptight, and your appearance has him convinced you're partially to blame."

"Problems?" Kakashi repeated slowly. "Nothing... nightmarish and shadowy, I hope?"

"There's not a bunch of weird creepy tentacle guys running around, right?" Naruto asked, shuddering. Next to him, Sasuke shared his own shudder. They vividly remembered the horrific image of hundreds of those things swarming towards them as they frantically tried to set up the sealing array. If Neeshka hadn't been there, they likely would have been dragged back into the nightmares.

Even outside of the illusions, the place was a complete nightmare.

"No, nothing of the sort." Aigis said. "It's classified information, so I can't disclose the details surrounding it. I personally do not believe it has anything to do with you four, and neither does Kirijou-san. You'll likely be discharged as soon as Kirijou-san returns from her trip to America."

They all let out a sigh of relief. "Well, it was nice of you two to visit little ol' me," Kakashi said, smiling down at his two students, "but you should get back to your rooms. We don't want to cause any more problems for them, or cause any problems for our own safety, ne?"

"Okay..." Naruto sulked, dragging his feet along the ground as he made his way back to the door. Sasuke let out a grunt towards Kakashi, taking one final look at his face before he too dragged himself away. Aigis gave Kakashi a formal bow, before ushering the two boys out and into the hall.

Kakashi let out a soft sigh when the door was closed. Things could be going better for him. Not only had his face been _exposed_ to his students, he was unsure of what sort of fate awaited Sakura. Would she ever recover? Was she strong enough to recover? Kakashi prayed she was. He didn't think he'd be able to handle the guilt if she never recovered from her trauma.

Laying back down on the bed, Kakashi stared up at the ceiling with the heavy weight of guilt resting firmly on his shoulders. All he could do now was wait... wait, and _hope_.

* * *

_A/N: __Double feature! Initially, I planned for last week to have both chapter 4 and 5 of World 2 posted since that Saturday I was officially free from the confines of the spring semester __and __figured it'd be a silly little gift__. Unfortunately,__ since that week was __also __finals weeks, I didn't have enough time to __rewrite the parts I planned to rewrite in the last two chapters__. Thus, I decided to post two chapters this week, __along with the title change that I've been wanting to do for a while, as well as the official move into the crossover section. __I've d__ecided to __just __go for Naruto/(Current World's Series), since that's the best I can do with the way FF sets up the crossover stuff. Should really be a Misc. Crossover section, or something..._

_Anyways, this __is __pretty much __the first world where there's actual genuine crossover character interactions instead of OCs, __and because of that, there will be less conflict. __There will still be a decent amount__, but __i__t __won't take up most of the world like the past two__. __Naturally, t__he series__ feature__d is__ one of my favorite series: Persona. I'll go ahead and say up front that this world is not __strictly__ Persona, and will contain __plenty of__ elements from other Shin Megami Tensei titles(as well as some elements of another series entirely that has had a connection to SMT in the past, but it won't be as overt __obvious __as the SMT stuff). I also take some liberties here or there, __especially when it comes to__ some of the 'mechanic' aspects__, but it's overall a __fairly__ Persona experience._

_If you don't know the characters__ "Mitsuru Kirijo", "Akihiko Sanada", and "Aigis", __a quick search wouldn't hurt. It'd __let you see how they look outside my fairly brief and vague descriptions of them._

_Don't have much else to say, so u__ntil next time. __Don't expect another double feature anytime soon! __Ja ne!_


	11. W3, C2: Checkups

_Chapter Title: __Checkups_

_Words: __8732_

_Series:_ Naruto, Persona

* * *

Kakashi idly sat in the waiting room of the "eye doctor", wondering why he was forced to wait considering that they had _escorted_ him to this room. If they were going to do that, why was he having to wait?

Of course, this wasn't exactly new. Kakashi knew that, outside of emergencies, doctors _loved_ to waste people's time by not seeing you until two hours after your scheduled appointment. They somehow managed to be tardier than _he _was, but they never even got in trouble for it! Whenever he need a routine checkup, he could show up his usual three hours late and still be on time since he'd have to wait another hour or two for them to show up. It wasn't even out of revenge against his tardiness, either. The other people waiting around would be complaining about having to wait for hours on end, too.

Worse, still, were the times he was called in... and then he had to wait _another_ hour as the doctor somehow got ready to give him a physical... and then all they'd do was fondle his testicles and then tell him to turn his head and cough. Really, what were the point of physicals? He was a shinobi. He knew when something was wrong with his body. He didn't need someone else to tell him that.

The door opened – and not the door where the doctors were, mind you – and several men stepped in escorting a short figure. "Just wait in here." They said, in the same way they had told Kakashi, and then they left. Standing there, looking irritated, was Sasuke, who glanced around the room briefly, his eyes finally landing on Kakashi.

Immediately, the boy tensed up, avoiding eye contact. "Hello, Sasuke!" Kakashi said cheerfully, and the boy gave a noncommittal grunt, shuffling over to an empty seat next to Kakashi. The boy knew there would be no getting away from the older man, and thus resigned himself to his fate. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Hn." Sasuke crossed his arms, looking pouty in Kakashi's eyes, but likely thought he was being 'calm'. "They say my eyes are special, and they want to do a basic 'eye exam'."

"Same for me, though that naturally only applies to my left eye." Kakashi continued with his fake cheer, making the raven-haired boy grow even more uncomfortable. "It's been a while since we've had some peace and quiet, no?"

"Hn." Yet another noncommittal response. Kakashi assumed he'd be getting a lot of them, so long as he didn't get to the point immediately. But... it was just too much fun to beat around the bush, what with the faces Sasuke was making.

"With all that's been going on – slavers and nightmares alike – we haven't had the time for peace and quiet." Kakashi continued, acting oblivious to Sasuke's growing discomfort. "Nor have we really had the time to sit and _talk_."

Sasuke sighed heavily, fidgeting with his sleeves as he did. "I already know what you're trying to do..."

"Oh?" Kakashi smiled innocently at Sasuke. "What am I trying to do, Sasuke-_kun_?"

Grimacing at the overly sweet tone of his teacher, Sasuke tightened his arms across his chest. "You're trying to get me to talk about what happened in the last world."

Kakashi chuckled slightly. "Perhaps I am. The conversation is bound to happen eventually. Why not get it out of the way now, hm?" Sasuke grunted, still trying – in vain – to hide his discomfort. "Of course, I don't know the whole story of what happened, so you'll have to fill me in on this particular story."

Sasuke groaned slightly, and after a moment of consideration, he opened his mouth. "I got pissed off at the situation, tried to learn how to use the technique so I could get back home, and then got caught and dragged into the nightmare realm. The end."

"That's not how you tell a story, Sasuke." Kakashi said with a smile. "Jiraiya would have a long list of criticisms about your poor storytelling."

"Like I care." He didn't even know who Jiraiya was. The name only sounded familiar in passing. "I did something stupid, which got us into more trouble than we should have been. That's it."

"Well, acknowledging the fact is a good first step." Kakashi admitted, deciding he'd stop teasing the obviously on edge Sasuke. "I understand that high pressure situations can lead to poor decision making, but I still have to say that I'm disappointed that you'd consider leaving your team behind in favor of your own personal goals."

"I'm not proud of that fact." Sasuke grunted rather loudly, and the few people in the waiting room along with them actually looked their way. Sasuke noticed that, growing uncomfortable and quiet. "I wasn't thinking straight. Between this whole damn situation, getting caught by _slavers_, and having no idea how to get back... I was angry."

"It's perfectly understandable to be angry. When I was your age, I no doubt would have been just as angry as you." Kakashi said, slightly wistfully. "Though I didn't have any particular, personal goal that would have spurred me to try to get back on my own, but if I did, I may have done the same in your shoes."

"Really." Sasuke said, somewhat blandly. "I can't imagine, what with how you go on about teamwork and friends."

Kakashi smiled down at Sasuke, his expression having little mirth in it. "There was a time when I didn't subscribe to that sort of creed. When I was your age, I lived only for completing a mission, nothing more. It wasn't until one particular mission that I realized living only for the mission was..." Kakashi paused, sighing after a moment of thought, "well, let's just say that it was a painful experience. You're lucky that things didn't end as poorly for you as they did for me."

Sasuke frowned at the sullen, far off look his teacher wore. It just didn't look right on his face compared to his usual lax, aloof expression.

There was an obvious question hanging in the atmosphere, but Sasuke refused to ask it. Not out of disinterest, but it simply didn't feel right for him to press the older man when he had little right to know. If Kakashi felt the need to answer the unasked question, that was another story, but Sasuke wasn't about to press for that information.

"Not going to ask me about what happened?" Kakashi asked, slightly amused. Sasuke was mildly relieved to see that the man's sullen look was no longer there, and that made answering him far easier.

"I don't really have the right to ask anything of you."

Kakashi chuckled, and he did something that made Sasuke bristle. The man reached over and ruffled his hair affectionately. "You're one of my darling students, Sasuke, so you have the right to at least ask. Me answering is another matter _entirely_!"

"Of course." Sasuke grumbled, trying to smooth out his hair.

"Normally, I wouldn't think to tell you anything about my past. It's not something I like to dwell on – there's no changing it, after all, and it doesn't do the mind any good – but I've had it all brought back to the forefront. With your recent actions that almost mirror my own all those years ago, I think it'll do us both some good for me to tell it."

Sasuke said nothing, watching his teacher as the man began to work out the words to use.

"Have you heard of the Konoha White Fang?" Kakashi asked lightly, and Sasuke wracked his brain for any recollection of it. Just like the "Jiraiya" from before, it seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint where.

"The name sounds familiar..."

"Well, he was a famous ninja of the Second Shinobi World War, his skill and strength comparable to the Third's cell – the Sannin. He was also my father." Sasuke nodded slowly, watching Kakashi's lax expression. "He also disgraced his name shortly before the Third Shinobi World War by abandoning his missions to save his teammates. A handful of shinobi agreed with his decision, but the vast majority of them – along with the very teammates he saved – ostracized him for his decision, and many still believe that his failure of such an important mission was what resulted in the Third Shinobi World War. Whether it had any impact in the matter, no one can say, but the result was an instantaneous drop in reputation. Not only did his skills waver in depression, but people stopped going to him for mission requests... even I, his own son, shunned him for forgoing his mission to save his teammates; not long after, he killed himself."

Sasuke exhaled quietly, watching Kakashi carefully as the man continued without so much as a change in facial expression. "After that point, I subscribed entirely to focusing on the mission. 'Complete the mission at all costs, even at your own life'. That was the creed I lived by. It wasn't until I had just become a jounin that I found myself in a similar situation to my father. It was during the Third Shinobi War; I was appointed as team-leader of a three man cell to destroy the Kannabi Bridge which was the main route Iwa's supplies were going through. I had everything planned out perfectly, but things never go quite as perfect as you planned. One of our numbers, Rin Nohara, was captured by Iwa shinobi, and knowing that the mission would be compromised by attempting to stage a rescue, I went ahead to continue to the mission."

"But...?" Sasuke asked, to which Kakashi smiled slightly.

"It's quite amusing to think about it now, but my second teammate, Obito _Uchiha_, refused to let that stand." Sasuke reacted minutely to the mention of his family name, but said nothing. "He said a lot to me that day, but there's one thing that stood out to me, and it's something you should know. I said it to the three of you after the bell test."

A statement Sasuke remembered. "'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash.' He was the one who told you that...?"

"He was." Kakashi nodded. "It hit me more than I would have expected, and it made me think about a lot of things. Even though I set out to complete the mission, I couldn't get his words out of my head and headed back. The result was... well..." Kakashi rubbed the scar over his left eye, the action making Sasuke wince. "It ended poorly, to say the least. For a long time I wondered how things would have gone had I gone with Obito right off the bat – come up with an actual rescue plan instead of simply jumping into the fray with no idea what to do – but what's done is done. All I can do now is use the knowledge I gained from that experience to help prevent it from ever happening again. Which is why I want you – _my team_ – to know the importance of companionship. To know that, if you're ever in the situation where your mission or your goals are on the line with the lives of your team, the lives of your team should be the most important one."

"Even if it meant failure?" Sasuke asked, dubiously. "Even if it meant never accomplishing your goal? Or if it meant everyone hated you?"

"Yes." Kakashi said without a hint of doubt of consideration to the answer. "Instead of thinking about your teammates, what sort of fate would you be willing to be subjected to if it meant the survival of your clan if that would give you a better idea?"

Sasuke flinched, knowing the answer to that one. "...I'd be willing to do a lot..." Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. "Alright, you've made your point..."

Kakashi chuckled lightly. "Things are always clearer in hindsight, as they say. You never quite realize what you have until you no longer have it." Kakashi said lightly. "I think you're already coming to see that, even if you don't realize it yourself. Of course, it's entirely up to you if you decide to put your teammates above all else, but I hope that you can come to see your team as your _friends_, at the very least."

Sasuke said nothing at first, stewing on his words for a long time. Then, softly, he said, "I make no promises about that... but I'll try, at least."

"That's all I can really ask for." Kakashi said with a smile. "I think you'll find seeing them as your friends will be easier than you think. Though I think the first step would be to apologize to them for what happened back there."

Sasuke grimaced, nodding his head stiffly. "I'll work on that..." he muttered quietly.

"It'd be best that you do that sooner rather than later. It's always best to get these sorts of things out of the way as soon as possible. Wouldn't you agree?"

Sasuke grumbled in response, saying nothing more. Kakashi smiled a little at his grumpy student, before likewise growing silent, taking small comfort in the non-awkward silence they were sharing. It made the wait for the doctor that much more bearable.

* * *

After having been bound by cast iron bindings for more than a day, being free was a greatly welcomed experience, especially after having been able to visit the rest of his team. Despite being separated from them once again, knowing they were fine was satisfying enough for him to sit in the hospital room without making a fuss about it. He wasn't about to sneak out again, not when he knew things were going to be a-okay. Still, that didn't mean he was going to just sit around _quietly_. No sir.

Instead of trying to escape, Naruto's primary goal was to start poking around in his room. There was a lot of stuff in the room that wasn't really standard in Konoha's hospitals(or at least what little he had seen of them). They had much fancier looking things to monitor a person's health, and the screens with color on them were really cool to just watch bounce up and then down, then up, then down... of course, it got boring to watch after a little while, so after that Naruto tried to find a way to turn the television-esque thing above the bed on. He poked it, he prodded it, even hit it to no avail. There were no knobs like the busted old thing he'd watch at his apartment, and Naruto honestly had no idea how to turn this flat looking thing on. If it could even _be _turned on. It was only by coincidence when he tried hitting it that it turned on.

Naruto sat in _awe_ at what the screen displayed. It was in _color_! And it was so _clear_! There weren't any black parts of the screen like his old one, and it was actually moving _smoothly_. The sound also didn't sound like he was listening to it underwater. It was _so cool_!

There were some weird things on screen at the time, of course. It was like a... blue cat, or something, and it was doing stuff. Naruto wasn't sure, but it wasn't something real like a lot of the stuff back home. Thinking of the movies back home, Naruto felt disappointed in knowing he'd probably be unable to watch any of Yukie Fujikaze's movies on this awesome thing. He'd love to be able to see Yukie Fujikaze in a picture that was displaying stuff as good as real life! Well, he'd love to meet her in person, but that was kinda outta the question right now.

Regardless, Naruto fumbled with the television thing a bit more, and managed to get it to change channels. There were small little button things on the sides of the television, and when pressed would change the pictures from one thing to another. Naruto saw all sorts of different things on the variety of channels. He saw a bunch of people sitting around talking about boring things, with some of them being old, others being young; he saw pretty girls dancing in a way he'd have to remember for his Oiroke no Jutsu, and also saw some guys dancing in a cool way that almost looked like fighting and was actually pretty neat; he saw people who looked sad in a really fake way, and even some yelling and shouting at one another despite not seeming all that upset; he saw cool drawings flying around and fighting one another; basically, he saw all sorts of cool things!

"What the-" a voice sputtered, and Naruto turned his head to the door that had just opened, finding the slightly rude, white-haired guy from before standing there with a flabbergasted look on his face. He was staring up at Naruto from where he dangled upside down on the ceiling, having been watching the television completely upside down. It made it more convenient for him to change the channels, you see. "What the hell are you... _how_ the hell are you..." The man slapped his face, rubbing his eyes roughly for several drawn out seconds. It seemed that finally allowed him to recover enough to ask the most pertinent question at hand. "_How_ did you get out of your bindings, exactly?"

Naruto scratched his head, briefly debating whether or not he should answer truthfully or not. It was only when Aigis' words – that if someone discovered his 'freedom', to tell them that she determined that he could move freely – Naruto went with the truth. "Aigis-san let me out!"

The man's face twisted momentarily, quickly switching to an impassive expression. "Aigis, huh. Figures she would. Wouldn't even be surprised if Mitsuru told her to let you out..." with a heavy sigh, the man crossed his arms. "Get down from the ceiling, would you? This is a hospital, not a playground."

"But I can't change the channels from down below!" Naruto complained with a pout. The man made a face, walking over to the small table at the bedside where he picked up a small black rectangle thing. Pointing it in the direction of the television, he pushed something on the rectangle and the channel on the television changed. "Whoa! Cool!"

The man had a dubious expression on his face as to whether or not it was 'cool'. "Common technology sure is cool." He said, his tone slightly sarcastic. "Will you get down from the ceiling _now_?"

Naruto nodded, kicking off the ceiling, performing a pointless front flip where he landed with a spin right next to the man. Promptly, and without even asking, he snatched the remote from the man's hand and began mashing the buttons at random. All Naruto managed to accomplish... was turning the screen black. "Hey! Where'd it go?!"

"Give me that." The man grunted, snatching the remote right back. A couple button presses later, the screen was displaying moving pictures again. "If you want to change the channels, just hit _these two buttons_, okay? Just hitting buttons at random will get you to a different connection or something."

"Okay..." Naruto squinted at the remote, doing his best to remember the two buttons shown to him. Once he was satisfied that he completely remembered them, he tentatively pushed one. Lo and behold, the picture changed. "Cool!"

"Right..." the man said in a monotone, looking at Naruto as if he were crazy. "Why'd Aigis let you out of your bindings?"

"Cuz I said I wanted to see my friends, so she ripped 'em off and let me see them! It was kinda scary how she just tore through them, but it was also really cool! I want to be able to do that, too!" Naruto chattered excitedly, still pushing the button to change the channel. He kept on going through the channels, his attention almost solely on the television screen.

"I doubt you could-" the man cut himself off, briefly glancing to the ceiling Naruto had been standing upside down a moment ago, "then again, who knows... Mind telling me how you stuck to the ceiling?"

"Oh. Uh... I just pour some chakra into my feet and it lets me stick."

The man made a face, looking at Naruto oddly. "Chakra? Is that some sort of Hinduism stuff?"

"Whatism?" Naruto squinted, taking his eyes off the television for just a fraction of a second. "It's a ninja technique!"

"A ninja technique?" The man asked, expression dubious. Then he shrugged, looking as if he was lost. "Right... alright. Sure. I've been told weirder things before." Sighing, he gave Naruto a blank look. "Just come with me, will you? We're gonna run you through some tests."

Naruto wrinkled his nose, the notion of 'tests' sounding pretty terrible. "Do I have to?"

"If you'd prefer to be bound by the metal casts again over the routine tests, I can arrange that." The man said with the minutest of smirks as he walked to the door. Naruto paled immediately, tossing the remote control onto the hospital bed and rushing after the man. No way did he want to get stuck in those things again! He didn't think a nice, pretty lady would come and break them for him again!

Walking along side the man in the snappy business suit, Naruto couldn't help but sulk as he did. He _hated_ tests of all kinds – and Naruto knew these tests weren't written tests, but those dang hospital 'tests' that stuck him full of needles and stuff – and he really wanted no part of it. Unfortunately, he didn't have a whole lot of choice. Not unless he wanted to stare down a 'gun' and hope he can dodge whatever it fired. He already had a warning shot fired at him once, and when it caused that vase to explode, Naruto didn't want to take his chances.

"So, uh..." Naruto scratched his cheek, "who are you?"

The man looked down at Naruto, briefly confused. "Akihiko Sanada. I thought I already told you that last time you asked?"

"Well, I kinda forgot." Naruto paused. "But that's not what I wanted to know... you're not some creepy, crazy doctor who wants to do experiments on us, right?"

Sanada rolled his eyes dramatically. "Do I _look_ like a crazy doctor to you?"

Cupping his chin, Naruto thought about it, drawing back to the images he had seen of 'crazy scientists' on movies. "Well... not really. They usually have a long white coat with stains on it and stuff."

"Riiight... I think you watch too many movies, kid. The real crazy scientists don't look like that." Sanada said laxly, and it made Naruto inch away from him. Rolling his eyes, the man said, "Just so you know, I'm a _boxer _by trade, not a mad scientist, not to mention I'm working to become a police officer. I couldn't care less about science crap." That seemed to do the trick for Naruto, though he still kept some distance. "Look, the tests aren't that big a deal. Just a the usual blood draws and some x-rays and scans. Nothing serious."

"Are there needles?"

"Well, yeah. There _is_ a blood draw." Sanada said, looking at the boy. "You never had a blood draw before?"

"I dunno. I never looked at what they were doing when they were sticking me with needles."

Sanada shook his head. "You should pay more attention when people are poking you with stuff, kid. Gotta make sure they're doing it right."

There was some truth in that, Naruto supposed. Still, needles were never one of Naruto's favorite things, so the idea of getting several... bleh. Sulking even more than before, he followed Sanada silently, throwing glances at passing nurses and patients to keep himself from getting too bored with the repetitive hallways.

When they arrived at the place Sanada was leading him to, Naruto entered the room to find Sasuke and Kakashi there, sitting on two different tables, a nurse drawing blood from each. Kakashi was still maskless, which was just _weird_ in Naruto's book. He had gotten so accustomed to seeing him with his mask that he had to do a double take every time he looked at him.

"Come sit down." A male nurse guided Naruto to another table, sitting him down on it and readying the 'instruments' that would be poking and prodding him shortly. Naruto cringed a bit, and instead focused on Sasuke and Kakashi, both of whom looked completely impassive as they were getting their blood drawn. Naruto frankly didn't know how they could, since someone was sticking 'em with something, but at the same time Naruto figured Kakashi had had similar situations come up plenty of times.

Thankfully, it all went very quickly; they had them all do a few 'physical' like checkups(thankfully none of the 'turn your head and cough' variety; although Naruto never actually had that in any of his physicals. He'd just heard people complaining about that stuff while in the waiting rooms), and had them lie still as they ran a machine over their body, but that was about it. Once they were done, Sanada – who had been watching all of their tests with out hiding any of his boredom – gestured to them. "Come with me. One last check up. Don't worry, it won't be anything like what you just went through."

Naruto grumbled under his breath, and he heard Sasuke do the same, but they followed him all the same. The walk was quiet, which made Naruto antsy, but thankfully they reached their destination quickly enough.

"Ah, hello." A soft, polite voice said, and Naruto immediately looked up. Sitting in the room they were led into was a pretty woman with strangely mint green colored hair that was braided to the side and resting on the front of her right shoulder. Strangely, her eyes matched the color of her hair, albeit a slightly darker shade. Her face was small, and slightly round – save for the point her chin came to – and she wore a brilliant smile on her face.

"I'm Fuuka Yamagishi, and I'll be performing a small analysis of the three of you." She said politely, resting her hands on her lap. "Please, sit down." The three of Team 7 did as requested without complaint, wondering just what sort of analysis she was going to perform on.

"I'll wait out in the hall." Sanada said, nodding his head to Fuuka. "Just give me a holler when you're done."

"Thank you, Akihiko." Fuuka said, nodding her head in turn. Then, when he had left, she turned to the trio. "My analysis shouldn't be too big of a deal. No doubt the physical and other tests were more intrusive and annoying than what I'll be doing. I just want to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer them as honestly as you feel comfortable doing."

"How's asking us questions an analysis?" Naruto asked, screwing up his face in confusion.

Fuuka shifted slightly, a hint of nervousness in her demeanor. "Well... since I want you to be honest with me, I'll be honest with you," Fuuka took a deep breath, before saying, "I have an extrasensory ability that allows me to gleam aspects and traits of a person just by focusing on a person. Now, I don't necessarily need the answers to the questions I will be asking to get the picture I want, but it helps when I'm not directly using my Persona."

"Persona?" Naruto repeated the word, frowning in confusion. Sounded like person. She used a person? He looked to Kakashi and Sasuke for answers, but they didn't seem to have them, or if they did, weren't going to give it to him.

"Never mind that." Fuuka said, dismissing the question. "Now, I'll ask questions, and I'd like it if you'd answer them one after the other."

"Why are we answering them together?" Kakashi asked curiously. "Won't that interfere with your 'readings'?"

"No." Fuuka smiled somewhat timidly at him. "As far as my analysis goes, I can easily tell my readings apart from different people – it's one of my strengths – and it'll go quicker if I ask the three of you together than one at a time."

"Interesting..." Kakashi nodded. It must be some sort of ability like the Yamanaka had, although potentially stronger if she didn't need to create a direct link to use it. "Go ahead, then."

Fuuka nodded, picking up a notepad from her lap. "First of all, you three and the girl – whom is unfortunately not here – came through a white wormhole a week ago. You are not from this world, are you?" She pointed to Kakashi with a pen, likely telling him to go first.

Sheepishly, Kakashi smiled somewhat stiffly. "No, not really." The pen turned to Sasuke, who glanced away. "No." Then Naruto. "Uh... no." Naruto scratched his head nervously, trying to shrink away from Kakashi and Sasuke.

"I see." Fuuka looked pleased with their answer. "Then, can you tell me where you _are_ from?" Kakashi was the first pointed at again – likely because he was the only adult of the three.

"Well, it's another world entirely..." he trailed off, unsure if he should give more information or not. Would it ever be used against them? Fuuka stared at him for a moment, before turning the pen to Sasuke.

"It's _definitely_ another world." Sasuke grumbled, looking incredibly grumpy to admit it.

Naruto wasn't sure if he should stray from what they said, but... his honesty got the better of him. "It's another world, though I dunno what it'd be called or anything like that. We come from the village of Konohagakure, though!" Naruto reached for his forehead protector to show it off, only to remember it wasn't there right as his fingers brushed against nothing. His hand dropped to his lap in a heartbeat.

"Konohagakure..." Fuuka wrote the word down, humming. "I assume there's a reason you withheld that little bit of information?"

"Old habits." Kakashi said with a hollow smile. Fuuka shivered slightly, nodding her head.

"Very well. Next question: according to what you said to Kirijou-san, this isn't the first time you've crossed from a wormhole?" This time, she pointed to Naruto instead of Kakashi.

Nervously, Naruto shook his head. "Uh, there was the first time when we left our home which was my bad, then the second time when we were escaping from slavers, and then the third time when we were escaping the creepy Sleepers and tentacle guys."

Fuuka blinked, turning to Kakashi. "Naruto is more or less accurate. The first time was an unintentional travel through the 'wormhole' where Naruto used the technique without thinking about the repercussions, the second time was out of necessity – and the vain hope we'd end up back home – and the third time I wasn't awake for, and only recall a little about 'Sleepers' and tentacles. More the former than the latter, really."

Finally, Sasuke. "What they said." He grunted irritably.

"I see... then the wormholes transport you to... other worlds? Alternate dimensions?" She was asking the question pointedly at Kakashi, who merely shrugged.

"I'm not entirely sure myself. The technique used was... unfinished, and I haven't had the proper time to look it over myself. Naruto was the one to use it, but like I said, he didn't consider the repercussions of using it." Naruto looked very put off by the comment, but said nothing. "I'm unsure if they're so much 'alternate' dimensions or other worlds as they are different galaxies and dimensions entirely. So far, nothing we've encountered even resembles what we left behind – be it technology, environment, or even the people and creatures inhabiting them."

Fuuka seemed very interested in that, nodding her head. "I'll have to inform Kirijou-san of that... ah, anyways! My last question for you is..." Fuuka held up a photograph, displaying it for the three of them to see. It wasn't a great picture, being from a bad angle and somewhat blurry, but what they could tell was that it was of a gaunt, bearded man with beady golden brown eyes, jet black hair that reached his shoulders, and a scar over his right eye that was not unlike Kakashi's, only it was rougher and larger. "Do you know this man?"

"No." Was the unison response from the trio, and Naruto said, "He looks like a creep. Probably a closet pervert, too."

Fuuka had no comment on that, instead, seeming satisfied. "Well, I can tell that the three of you have told the truth up to now. The recent events that have been happening around here have nothing to do with you, or your arrival, by my guess."

Sasuke frowned, looking at her suspiciously. "Are you saying that this wasn't an 'analysis', but a truth test?"

"Something like that." Fuuka smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the _whole _truth, but we had to be sure that you're not a part of recent events before we could do anything about releasing you." With that said, she quickly added, "I did do some analysis of the three of you, however. It's nothing serious, but I was able to determine the Major Arcana which the three of you belong."

"Major Arcana? What's that?" Naruto asked, to which Fuuka shook her head.

"It's not particularly important, and I'm not the best person to explain the concept. There's someone more suited to that task than me." Fuuka said, standing up from her seat. "You'll probably get to speak with her, once Kirijou-san comes back." She went to the door, opening it. "Akihiko, you can take them back."

"Pretty short analysis..." Sanada muttered, stepping into the room. Ushering the three out of the room laxly, he looked at Fuuka and said, "I'll come get the results once they're back in their rooms."

"Alright." Fuuka said, smiling as she did.

With that out of the way, the three of them were guided to their respective rooms and it returned to the way it was. Naruto was a little disappointed he didn't get to hang out with Kakashi(or even Sasuke), but hopefully he'd get out soon so he could do just that. At least he wasn't bound anymore, and the TV was still on to amuse him in the meantime.

* * *

Akihiko couldn't help but regard Mitsuru somewhat oddly as she walked. After months of her being in less than stellar moods, seeing her walk with an almost imperceptible bounce was frankly unusual and out of place in her normal reserved gait. However, knowing her as long as he had, it must have meant _something _had cheered her up. "Uh... did things go well in America?"

"Very well." Mitsuru responded with a smile and nod. "The demon expert in America had a great deal of insight into the method of travel for demons, and with the information he has given, we should be able to trace our attacker's hell gate locations in no time."

And like that, Akihiko decided to pin Mitsuru's good mood on that. "Good." Akihiko popped his knuckles, unable to keep the grin off his face. "Can't wait to get my hands on that bastard!"

"Don't do anything foolish, Akihiko. Regardless of your skills as a Persona user and a boxer, he is still a devil summoner. He won't be an easy foe to best, even with your skills." Mitsuru said seriously, the smile from before gone with nary a trace of it left. "Don't underestimate him."

"Relax," Akihiko said, rolling his eyes ever so slightly, "I'm not one to underestimate my enemies. You know _that_ much, at least."

Mitsuru's smile returned in a heartbeat, her head nodding ever so slightly. "Yes, I'm well aware of that." Shaking her head, she kept on smiling. "What of our 'guests'? I presume the tests and analysis from Fuuka have come back with some information?"

"Yeah, they did." Akihiko shrugged laxly. "Fuuka says they've got nothing to do with Zhan, and I'm inclined to believe her. Nothing seems to get past Juno, these days." He scratched his head. "The doctors are a bit confused by some of the findings, though."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, the doctors found stuff in their blood that differs from ours. It's similar to ours, but not quite. Then, the blond kid supposedly has a bunch of weird stuff in his blood – some technojargon I didn't understand – that they call 'superior' to most humans. Then the other kid and white haired guy shared some unique stuff in common too. Not like a family relation, but certain anti-bodies or something." Akihiko shook his head. "I'm not good with that stuff, so you'd best look at the report. Still, the doctors also found some pathways in their bodies that don't exist in the rest of us, or some such. They've already stared talking about whether or not they're a subspecies of homosapiens, or an entirely different species of the genus homo. I don't really care about any of that. Just as long as they aren't a threat."

"Interesting..." Mitsuru looked thoughtful. "What of Hatake's left eye? The red one."

"Apparently from the optical tests they did, it's something like ten times as good as a normal eye. The guy gave some information about it: called it "Sharingan". It's supposed to be a special eye that enhances visual clarity, gives crystal clear photographic memory to anything it sees, and allows him to see muscle movement to the point he can determine the trajectory of someone's attack before they even do it." Akihiko snorted lightly. "Sounds like a bunch of crap to me, but that's what he said."

"It's always a possibility. You can see certain movements just by subtle shifts." Mitsuru pointed out.

"Only when it comes to boxing, and that's out of experience. I can't see that sort of stuff if I'm not accustomed to it." Akihiko shrugged. "I'm not saying he's lying about it – the black haired kid's got them too, and he can turn them on and off, which I saw in person – but I just can't wrap my head around the idea. Seems ridiculous to be able to see _that well_. Sounds better than a damn _eagle's_ eye."

Chuckling at the comment, Mitsuru asked, "Did Fuuka discover anything else about them?"

"Well, she ran her 'lie detector' on them, and found out they were telling the truth about coming from another world. Said the white haired one was more evasive and less forthcoming – mentioned something about him having 'bad habits' with withholding information – but that he did tell the truth. His emotions fluctuated a lot according to her, but they were very subtle and he showed no actual signs of it outwardly. The blond was more open about everything: Fuuka called him an 'open book', and any emotional shift was displayed clear as day on his face. The other boy seemed to keep everything inside - to the point she called it unhealthy - and seemed to prefer to talk as little as possible."

"I could tell that much myself from speaking to the two of them." Mitsuru said, nodding her head. "They're in my office, correct?"

"Yep. Waiting for you to 'release' them."

"Then I won't waste any time getting there. Coming up with terms that'll satisfy them as well as the Kirijou Company shouldn't be difficult." Mitsuru said, coming to a stop near an elevator. "I'll head there now. Anything else pressing that I should know?"

Akihiko shrugged. "Nothing really stand out that isn't in the report. Your secretary should have it ready for you." Mitsuru nodded lightly, stepping into the elevator. "Don't take too long settling matters with them, though."

Mitsuru's brow quirked upwards, and she gave him an inquisitive glance. "And why is that?"

"I wanna know what you found out in America." Akihiko said, grinning. "The sooner we can take the fight to Zhan, the better."

Mitsuru chuckled, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I've already sent the information to the respective departments while I was still on the plane. I've heard they're already hard at work on it."

"Great. Then I'll head to the gym for some training. See you, Mitsuru."

"And you, Akihiko."

* * *

Naruto couldn't hide the obvious nervousness he felt as he sat in the office that was all too fancy for his liking. It was nothing like the Hokage's office, which had a sort of homey feel to it. This one was just... elaborate, fancy, and showed whoever designed the place had extreme, expensive, and somewhat gaudy taste. Naruto could imagine there were far worse looking offices around, but this one was the worst he'd seen personally... considering he had only seen about four, that wasn't saying _much_.

"Naruto, stop fidgeting." Kakashi admonished slightly, sitting very calmly in the middle highback seat. Naruto looked at his teacher, finding that he was sitting far too laxly for his liking.

"I can't help it... I'm nervous!" Naruto muttered, trying to get comfortable in the comfortable chair, but his nervousness was just making all his joints ache in worry.

"Your fidgeting is only making us all feel nervous, so just calm down and sit still." Kakashi said sternly, but not harshly.

Sasuke snorted at the comment. "Like the idiot could ever sit still..." he muttered, just loud enough for Naruto to hear. The blond's mood immediately shifted from nervous to angry.

"Oy! I could too sit still if I wanted to!" Naruto retaliated, sounding everything like the twelve year old he was in that moment.

"Pfft. I'd like to see you try." Sasuke scoffed, and the moment the words left his mouth, the sides of Kakashi's hands rammed down on both his and Naruto's head.

"Stop it, both of you. We're in this whole mess because of that sort of talk, remember?" Kakashi asked sweetly. "You don't want to make our current situation any worse, do you?" Balking, the two boys shut their mouths and sat deathly still. "I didn't think so!" Shortly after he had said that, the door to the office opened, and the red haired woman – Mitsuru Kirijou – stepped into the room.

"I apologize for the delay. I hope you haven't been waiting too long." She said politely, taking a seat at the desk, setting a binder of papers down heavily on its top.

"Not at all." Kakashi said politely, ever the diplomat.

"It's not like we'd be able to do anything with our time, anyways." Sasuke grumbled under his breath, this time quiet enough so Kirijou wouldn't hear... but he underestimated her hearing.

"I suppose that's true, and I apologize for that." Kirijou said genuinely, but it did little to alleviate Sasuke's ire. "Regardless, from what I've seen in the reports, I believe you're fit to be released from our 'captivity' – at least for the most part. There will be stipulations, naturally; you are people from another world entirely, and letting you walk completely free would have potential problems tied to it. Both for us, and for you. Not to mention one of your companions is in no condition to leave, at the moment."

"So we'll still be locked up, huh?" Sasuke asked with a huff, and he could feel Kakashi's sideway look after having said those words. Settling himself down, he focused on Kirijou, who seemed unperturbed by his comments.

"Not locked up, but kept under watch for the moment. I presume you'll be wanting to return to your own world, correct? Yamagishi's report states that you have yet to fully examine the power that got you here, thus we will enable you to do that. However, there will be restrictions, simply for our own safety as well as your own."

"We understand." Kakashi said before any protests from his rowdy genin could be made. "Thank you for at least giving us this much."

"It's no trouble. I request that you stay mostly together, and I'll be issuing an ASSW to monitor you in the instance where you need to operate separately."

"ASSW?" Kakashi repeated, unsure of the term, but the door to the office opened and in stepped a familiar blond woman.

Although the term woman perhaps could only be loosely used. Both Kakashi and Sasuke immediately noticed the difference in her appearance from the last time. This time, she was not wearing any sort of business suit, nor any genuine clothing at all. This revealed a mechanic body that they previously had _not_ noticed. Not fully, anyways. Her joints were a bizarre arrangement of brass metal plating, covering the inner gears and mechanics inside. She had no feet, but iron hooves, and her legs, arms, and her entire torso and pelvis was covered by some sort of spandex – something that served only to cover some sort of internal mechanisms.

All in all, she was not a woman, or even a human, but a machine. Her face, however, was very human in appearance.

Naruto, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice any of this; his face splitting into a wide grin at the mere sight of the one known as Aigis. "Aigis-san!" He beamed cheerfully, and the woman blinked momentarily at the greeting, nodding her head.

"Naruto-kun." She said politely, with a ghost of a smile on her face. Then, to Kirijou, she stood up straighter and saluted. "Aigis, Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Unit 'AGI-7' reporting for duty, ma'am."

"No need to be so formal, Aigis. We've known each other too long for that." Kirijou told her with a smile. Then, to the three, she said, "I understand that the three of you have already met Aigis, so there's no need for formal introductions. She'll take you to where you'll be staying, from now on – all your belongings are already there, though we still have your weapons in confiscation. For security reasons."

"Naturally." Kakashi said neutrally.

"Oy, oy..." Naruto spoke up, unable to sit still any longer. "When can we see Sakura-chan?"

"In due time. Yamagishi is attempting to do a psyche profiling of the girl to determine the stability of her mind, last I heard. If all goes well, you should be cleared to at least visit her." Kirijou told him, and Naruto nodded dejectedly. "Aigis, go ahead and take them now. I have other business I need to deal with at the moment."

"Right away." Aigis gestured to the three, saying, "Come on. I'll bring you to your room." The group followed after Aigis, remaining quiet the entire way through. It was only then that Naruto realized Aigis was no entirely human when he noticed the 'weird clothing' that she was wearing, and saw the big gold(actually brass, but Naruto knew nothing of that) plating at her joints. It didn't necessarily surprise Naruto much, but it _did_ blow his mind.

"So, so... are you an android, Aigis-san?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto blankly. "What the hell is an android?"

"I dunno, but I heard it on TV the other day, and they were talking about a metal person that looked kinda like a human but wasn't."

"Why would you ask someone if they're something you don't even know the meaning of? What if it was an insult? Moron." Sasuke scoffed, and Kakashi withheld a sigh as a new argument was ready to spring up. Couldn't they go more than a minute without snipping at each other? Apparently not.

Aigis, however, diffused the situation expertly – though unintentionally. "An android would be a relatively close description of what I am – a synthetic human with mechanical parts. However, my official designation is 'Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon', which isn't the intent of an 'android'."

"Huh..." Naruto squinted, rubbing his chin. "What's that even mean? Anti-shadow? Suppression weapon?"

Aigis glanced back at him, tilting her head slightly. "I am a suppression weapon designed to combat Shadows – malevolent creatures spawned from the darkness of human hearts."

"It's strange that someone would design weapon to have a personality." Kakashi said, recalling the countless shinobi who were raised to kill their emotions, their personality, all so that they could become ruthless, cold, efficient killing machines. The notion of someone creating a weapon designed to have a personality was ironic to him, and one _many_ in his world would certainly scoff at.

"If I did not, it would make it difficult to fight Shadows." Aigis said, nonchalantly. The shadows, presumably, being the 'malevolent creatures spawned from the darkness of human hearts'. Perhaps emotions were needed to fight them, then? The universe was filled with stranger things than they could have realized.

"We're here." Aigis announced as she came to a stop outside a particular door amongst a hall with a decent number of them. Opening it, she revealed a sizable room with three beds(genuine beds, not those hospital beds), a large window to the outside world, a desk and chair, several dressers, and a nice, huge television. Additionally, there was a door to a closet, and another door that likely led to a bathroom. It was a rather nice living space, all things considered. "This will be your temporary housing location. All that we could find on your person are on the bed there."

Sasuke was the first to go there, grabbing his folded clothes and shifting through the pile of stuff for his pouches and pack. Not all of his stuff was there(and he realized, yet again, that most of it had been taken by the slavers), he noted with irritation, but he took what was there and set about getting changed. Didn't seem to particularly care about doing it in front of everyone, either.

While Naruto grabbed his stuff(of which almost all of it was there, only missing a small kunai pouch that he couldn't recall losing), Kakashi searched for the scroll that got them in this mess to begin with. It was tucked messily into his pack(which had been Naruto's doing, although it had been slightly jostled around from Sasuke pulling out his tent) and unrolled it. Wasting no time, he poured himself over the scroll, his full undivided attention on it.

"Ne, ne..." Naruto looked to Aigis, scratching his chin. "Can we get some food? I'm really hungry!"

"I can arrange for some food to be delivered." Aigis said with a nod. "What would you like to eat?"

"Ramen!" Naruto responded immediately, something that caused Sasuke to roll his eyes.

"Anything _but_ ramen." Sasuke grunted, yanking his shirt on with deliberate irritation.

"A few bowls of Miso Ramen will do." Kakashi said without looking up, and his word was the final say. Naruto pumped his fist and lorded the fact he won over Sasuke, the raven haired boy simply sulking but knowing better than to say anything in complaint.

"Very well, I'll arrange for ramen to be delivered." With that, Aegis left the room, a small click at the door signaling that it was locked.

"Didn't she say we wouldn't be 'locked up'... tch." Sasuke scoffed, shaking his head. "That's being locked up, isn't it?"

"I guess." Naruto scratched his head, squinting around the room in search of something. His eyes lit up when he spotted what he was looking for, and he quickly rushed over to grab it. It was another remote control, one presumably for the big ol' television. With his new found knowledge of _all _the buttons(that a kind nurse explained to him), Naruto turned the TV on, hopped into one of the beds, and began watching with the biggest grin on his face. There were some _awesome_ stuff on the TV, and Naruto was going to enjoy the much larger screen he now got. "But I got this TV, so I'm happy!"

Sasuke was staring at him blankly, and then he stared at the TV blankly. Grumbling, Sasuke took a seat on his bed and pointedly _ignored_ the television. Stuff like that simply did not interest him – television and movies were just a complete waste of time. He wasn't going to stoop to the level of laziness in watching them.

* * *

_A/N: Something of a transitional chapter __where __not a ton happens. __Thus I don't have a whole lot to say about it. __Admittedly, I have a feeling Japanese doctors are more punctual about visits than American ones. Hell, I have a feeling most doctors around the world are better about being punctual than American ones. Still, the irony of having Kakashi forced to wait on people less punctual than him is funny, and it gave me an excuse to have him and Sasuke talk about what happened now rather than later(where there won't be a whole lot of them talking one-on-one)._

_ Little bits of info on what's going on the Persona world, and __there's__ a __bad__ devil summoner __out there doing stuff. What sort of stuff? Evil stuff, I'm sure__. __But anyways__, __like I said last time, __it's gonna be a pseudo-amalgam of the SMT series, __hence a devil summoner__. __It's almost more akin to the first two Persona games, which had cameos and references to the earlier Devil Summoner games in their own right._

_But in the end, i__t's mainly just an excuse for me to put __a genuine __Jack Frost in here. __Hee-ho!_

_ Until next time. Ja ne._


End file.
